an analysis of three modes of group interpretation …/67531/metadc131043/m2/1/high... · an...
TRANSCRIPT
AN ANALYSIS OF THREE MODES OF GROUP INTERPRETATION
IN THE SPEECH ARTS CURRICULUM .
APPROVED:
Major Professor
Minor Professor ^
. / ( / , Director of the Department of Spee&^i and Drama
Dean of the Graduate School v
AN ANALYSIS OF THREE MODES OF GROUP INTERPRETATION
IN THE SPEECH ARTS CURRICULUM
THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
North Texas State University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
By
Jerry D. Young, B.A.
Denton, Texas
August, 1968
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I . INTRODUCTION 1
II . HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 8
III. A PHILOSOPHY FOR GROUP INTERPRETATION . . . 32
IV. MODES OF GROUP INTERPRETATION 47
Choric Interpretation Readers Theatre Chamber Theatre
V. EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES AND PROCEDURES . . 79
Educational Advantages Selecting Literature Rehearsal Procedures
VI. EVALUATING THE GROUP INTERPRETATION PERFORMANCE 108
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION '. 123
BIBLIOGRAPHY 130
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Statement of Problem
Oral interpretation of literature has been regarded by some
critics as an exhibitionary display of a reader's style and delivery.
After a long and harried history oral interpretation became accepted as
one of the speech arts through the efforts of such proponents as Mary
Maud Babcock, R. A . ' T a l l c o t t , Gertrude Johnson, and W. M. Parrish.
To define speech and English courses into their proper areas, in j
1936, the functions and objectives of the two curricula were published 1
*n The Quarterly Journal of Speech. Currently, under the tutelage of
such authorities as Robert Breen, Wallace Bacon, Chloe Armstrong,
Paul D. Brandes, and Charlotte Lee, interpretation is assured of a
respected position in the speech arts curriculum.
Group interpretation of literature, however, does not participate
in this established tradition. In past years, group readings have been
associated with inadequately performed choral reading or verse-speaking
choirs. In recent years there has been a popular revival of group
ICommittee for Advancement of Speech in Secondary Schools, "A Course of Study in Speech for Secondary Schools," Quarterly of Speech. XXII (February, 1936), 255.
1
interpretation productions on many college and high school campuses.
Prior to 1953, textbooks and journal articles considered this art form
exclusively as verse-speaking or choral reading. After 1953, group
interpretation performances are discussed in a variety of terms as
multiple reading, ensemble readings, staged readings, Readers
Theatre, Interpreters Theatre, or Chamber Theatre. Directors of
group interpretation productions have been free to experiment with
various modes of expression. These experiments have encompassed
productions from script-in-hand readings to nearly conventional
theatre productions. Extracting methods and objectives from both,
interpretation and theatre, group interpretation seemingly perpetuates
the acting-interpretation conflict when lighting effects , costuming,
and physical movement are used to present a piece of literature to an
audience. The confusion which surrounds the motives and terms to be
assigned to a group interpretation, challenges the value and validity of
this art form as an educational activity in the speech arts curriculum.
Jere/Veilleux identifies three basic areas of confusion in interpretation
which are applicable to this discussion.
Confusion over the present theory and practice of oral interpretation seems to arise out of three basic areas of mis-understanding. The first of these areas can best be illuminated by raising once again the tiresome question of the distinctions between oral interpretation and acting; the confusion here is a result of seemingly close analogical techniques of the two disciplines. The second source l ies in the nature of peculiar language of oral interpretation as
compared with the more familiar language of rhetoric and of science. And the third source is the failure to perceive the unique psychology of the audience present in the inter-pretation. ^
Directors of verse-speaking choirs, the prototype of Choric
Interpretation, made remarkable claims about the training values of
the media for teaching speech skills or as a quick programing device.
Advocates of Readers Theatre or staged readings have enthusiastically
written about this style of interpretation as a substitute for conventional
theatre productions or as an easy production method for presenting
literature to an audience in an interesting and entertaining manner.
There have been few efforts to specifically measure or identify these goals
or to evaluate the effectiveness of group performances. In past years
when teachers, of interpretation presented students in public performances
without apparent teaching goals or methods, some educators and school
patrons regarded any performing art with skepticism.
To alleviate the confusion which surrounds group interpretation
and the skepticism of educators and patrons, it is necessary to define
and describe explicit educational functions, aims, styles and pro-
cedures for a group interpretation production in a speech arts curriculum.
This thesis is a corporeal attempt to define and clarify some of those
functions, aims, and procedures.
Zjere'Veilleux, "The Interpreter: His Role, Language, and Audience," The Speech Teacher. XVI (March, 1967), 125.
In order to complete the requirements for this problem, four
objectives guided the research and writing of this thes i s . First,
there was an attempt to identify and establish specific educational
goals for a group interpretation production. Second, there was an
effort to describe certain procedures for selecting, adapting, arrang-
ing, and presenting a piece of literature to an audience through a
group interpretation performance. Third, this thesis attempted to
relate the three modes of group interpretation—Choric Interpretation,
Readers Theatre, and Chamber Theatre—as a single art form. Fourth,
there has been an attempt to suggest specific evaluative criteria and
evaluation sheets for group interpretation performances.
Definition of Terms
Before discussing the approach observed in the preparation of
this thes is , two terms need to be defined. Group interpretation is
understood to mean any performance by two or more readers, with or
without staging devices, for the purpose of conveying the emotional,
intellectual, and aesthetic content of a literary selection to an audience,
As stated in the problem, this definition will include the three modes of
group interpretation recognized as Choric Interpretation, Chamber
Theatre, and Readers Theatre. Also, in.this thesis a speech arts
curriculum will be considered as all instruction included within the
academic areas observed as speech therapy, public speaking, oral
interpretation, and dramatics. This position is deemed advisable
because there have been times when some scholars have mistakenly
attempted to detach their respective areas.from any connection with
the other speech disciplines in order to establish individualistic
identity.
Procedures Followed
To define and describe the educational functions, aims, modes,
and procedures stated in the problem, the following agendum was
observed. The first step was to investigate the historical backgrounds
of group interpretation. By tracing the development of group interpreta-
tion as an art form and its status in various periods of speech history,
it is proposed that the contemporary status of group interpretation can
be more clearly defined. Next it was necessary to study the theoretical
and philosophical development of group interpretation. This study tends
to make it possible to determine a specific philosophical attitude for
group performances. The findings of these two preliminary studies are
discussed in Chapters II and III.
The major area of investigation for this thesis focused on the
three interpretative modes—Choric Interpretation, Readers Theatre,
and Chamber Theatre. It was necessary to analyze each mode to
determine i ts individual characterist ics, purpose of style, and particular
production technique and problems. Originally it was proposed to
include representative production scripts for each of the styles, but
copyright restrictions made it impossible to include these scripts .
This area of investigation is included in Chapter IV. In Chapter V,
the three forms are examined collectively, and certain suggested
educational values, functions, and procedures are d iscussed. The
approach presented in Chapter V presents general guidelines which
will permit a teacher-director to adapt methods and procedures for
selecting and presenting literature to an audience.
The last step was to establish suggested evaluative criteria for
a group interpretation performance. Apparently no attempt has been
made to determine these criteria. This study, discussed in Chapter
VI, relies extensively on Gertrude Johnson's article "Dramatic Reading
and Platform Art Critique," and Keith Brooks, Eugene Bahn, and
L. LaMont Okey's book The Communicative Act of Oral Interpretation.
Also, many concepts were derived from W. B. Chamberlain and S. H.
Clark, "Criticism."
Schools are engaged in teaching courses in English, speech,
music, industrial a r t s , mathematics, history, home economics, and
physical education, but their prime objective is to teach a personality.
At times educators and teachers have lost sight of this larger objective,
and perhaps no group has been more negligent than teachers of *
interpretation. The effectiveness of many interpretative performances
continues to be marred by reminiscences of showy elocution and
declamation performances. It is desired that when properly understood
and executed, a group interpretation performance will have a lasting
value to the interpreters' social, educational, psychological, and
aesthetic needs.
CHAPTER II
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Historically, group interpretation has been assigned various
functions. As a part of ancient Greek drama or in plays by T. S.
Eliot, group interpretation is regarded as a phase of dramatic per-
formances. Within liturgical rituals, group reading techniques can
be identified in chants and responsive readings. Incorporated into
Hitler's Youth Movement, group speaking became a propaganda
instrument to mold a sen^e of unity and collectiveness among German 1
students. Some authorities regard any public recitations en masse
as group interpretations. This designation would include pledges of
allegiance, credal recitations, or oral classroom recitations. The
scope and purpose of this thesis exclude these mass recitations or the
liturgical and propaganda aspects of group readings. It is concerned
only with the educational functions of group interpretation as a public
performance.
During its formative stages as verse-speaking or choral reading,
proponents of Choric Interpretation made extravagant claims about the
iMary Major Crawford, "Speech Choirs in Europe," Quarterly Toumal of Speech. XXIII (October, 1937), 445.
benefits to be derived from group speaking exercises . According to
many, verse-speaking had enormous literary value for the apprecia-
tion and study of spoken verse. Others emphasized i ts value as an
instrument for vocal training and improvement. Emma Grant Meader
records that choral reading was regarded by some as an effective aid
2
in curing stuttering. Others equally enthusiast ic, advocated that
group speaking activities permitted shy, self-conscious children to
develop confidence and poise. The cultural and social values of
choral reading received elaborate emphasis. In more recent years ,
some teachers have regarded staged readings or Readers Theatre as a
means for presenting plays with limited funds and faci l i t ies .
This thesis observes a more conservative at t i tude. First,
only potential values are considered. This approach seems advisable
because it i s difficult to obtain satisfactory data measuring literary 3
appreciation or aesthetic sk i l l s . Second, although group interpreta-
tion and conventional theatre share many techniques and concepts,
group performances are not considered as substitutes for dramatic
productions.
2Emma Grant Meader, "Choral Speaking and Its Values," Quarterly Journal of Speech. XXII (April, 1936), 244.
3Ray Irwin, "Some Trends in Interpretation in the Past Fifty Years," Re-Establishing the Speech Profession, edited by Robert T. Oliver and Marvin Bauer (Published by the Speech Association of the Eastern States , 1959), p . 80.
10
In this chapter, Greek dramatic choruses and platform readings
prior to 1920 are discussed as a means for establishing the genesis
of techniques now used in Choric Interpretation, Chamber Theatre,
and Readers Theatre. Prior to 1920, references in relevant literature
to group interpretations are few and then rarely in an educational con-
text . Since very little evidence is available, one can only surmise
at the educational activities which prevailed.
Eugene Bahn's definitive article "Interpretative Reading in
Ancient Greece," acknowledges, "there has arisen a new speech art
4
called verse-speaking similar to the art of the Greek chorus." Bahn's
use of "similar to" is cl propos, for verse-speaking choirs are not to
be construed as drama, and, as a phase of drama, the Greek chorus
should not be regarded as oral interpretation. However, i t would be
erroneous for a student to deny any relationship between the two art
forms. In the ancient Greek culture, mass recitations evolved from
the primitive communal recitations and singing during the Dionysian
fest ivals celebrating the grape harvest. According to Bahn, these
choric recitations, or "Ballad-dances," were intoned or chanted in a 5
recitative fashion. As tragedy developed and supplanted the mass
recitations, choric speaking was retained as an intrinsic characteristic
of Greek drama. It is generally conceded that Greek choric drama was
^Eugene Bahn, "Interpretative Reading in Ancient Greece," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XVIII (June, 1932), 432.
Slbid. , 438.
11
the archtype for verse-speaking techniques and principles.
Group speaking has prevailed as an element in religious
ceremonies in most civilizations. Recitative, antiphonal, and
refrain speaking characterized the Hebrew liturgy. Many of the
Old Testament psalms were responsively chanted as a part of the
ancient Hebraic worship. The Roman Catholic liturgy also makes use
of chants and responsive readings. Antiphonal, recitative, and
refrain speaking became identified with choral speaking. Even the
custom of robing the speakers and arranging the chorus in light,
medium, and dark voices was adopted from church choral choirs.
Although no specific evidence was observed which indicated
that elocution teachers made use of group readings, several indirect
references seem to indicate that some form of group speaking was
practiced. In discussing Readers Theatre, Wilma Grimes and Alethea
Mattingly cite this account from Gilbert Austin's Chironomia.
Another species of dramatic reading has of late years been practiced in private companies assembled for that purpose. It differs from that just mentioned (one person reading a play) by limiting each individual to the reading of the part of a single character. In this entertainment, as on
* the s tage, the characters of the drama are distributed among the readers according to their supposed talents; and each being furnished with a separate book, either th'e whole play, or certain selected scenes from one or more, are read by the performers sitting around a table, whilst others of the company serve as the audience. The reading i s performed by each in his best manner the part allotted to each i s often nearly committed to memory, and such gestures are used as can be conveniently executed in a sitting position posture. . . . Higher efforts are here required • in order to keep the auditors
12
alive to the interest of the scene, thus divided and stript of all that aids delusion, mutilated of i ts complete act ion. On these occasions . . . sometimes dresses are assumed or modified the more nearly to approach theatrical exhibition. ^
Virginia Sanderson affirms that the techniques of verse-
7
speaking had no relationship to the "old fashion group reci ta t ions ."
Rose Walsh relates a vivid picture of a group recitation, by the Senior
Elocution Class at the commencement exercises of "selected Seminaries
for young ladies" at the turn of the century. In flowing white dresses , drilled to perfect poise, graceful bodily movement and good speech unison, they recited The Legend of the Organ or Aux Italian, now high, now low, now louder, now softer, now slower, now faster , and awed admiring relatives and friends, although no one knew just why, this group work was accepted and applauded as a part of the very superior training received at such private schools.®
Furthermore, research revealed that the techniques now regarded
as Readers Theatre and Chamber Theatre were present in the staged
readings of the Elizabethan Reading Society under the direction of
William Poel. The Reading Society was active from 1875 to 1879. In
1879, the society reorganized as the Elizabethan Stage Society. William
GWilma Grimes and Alethea Mattingly, Interpretation: Writer, Reader, Audience (San Francisco. 1961), p. 332.
7Virginia Sanderson, "Chorus1 that Speak," Practical Methods in Choral Reading, edited by Marguerite DeWitt (Boston, 1936), p . 117.
8Rose Walsh, "Whither the Speaking Choir," Ib id . . p . 127.
13
Poel's contribution to group interpretation and to Shakespearian
theatre deserves additional research, not only from the standpoint
of techniques, but from the viewpoint of notable actors and teachers
who were influenced by Poel's methods. Among those named in
connection with the Elizabethan Reading and Acting Societies are
Elsie Fogerty, Lillah MacCarthy, Charles Laughton, Sir John
Gielgud, and Lord Gordon Bottomly.
William Poel was an actor and director. After touring the
English countryside with a program of solo readings from the works of
William Shakespeare one summer, he organized an amateur group
which "toured the country during the summer months giving costumed
9
recitals" from Shakespeare's plays in town halls and school buildings.
These performances proposed to present a reading of the actual texts
of the plays. In 1875, Poel became associated with the Elizabethan
Reading Society, an organization of students founded at University
College, London. The performers sat on a platform and read the texts
of Shakespeare's plays without cuts or omissions.
In June, 1897, The Daily Chronicle. London, reviewed the
techniques of the Society. In front of dark drapery, forming a species of screen sat
about a dozen ladies and gentlemen in nineteenth century even-ing att ire, who representing the characters of the play, rose at their respective cues and delivered the lines allotted them, the
9Robert Speight, William Poel and the Elizabethan Revival (Cambridge, Massachuset ts , 1954), p . 43.
14
majority with books in their hands. Below the platform sat Mr. Arnold Dolmetsch and three lady assis tants , who played the incidental music upon instruments of Shakespeare's time.
Poel's platform readings received critical acclaim from
George Bernard Shaw.
Again if we watch the amateur performances of Elizabethan drama with which Mr. William Poel does much good work, we find these performers who are members of the Shakespeare Reading Society. . . acquit themselves much better in point of delivery than average professional actors.
The effectiveness of the Elizabethan Stage Society was regarded by
Shaw as a continuation of the Reading Society's techniques. He
states again, they were "a novelty as a theatre to which people can
12
go to see the play instead of the cas t . "
Robert Speight indicates that Poel's approach was not theatrically
oriented. "The addresses introduction^ given at the performances
chosen for these readings do not immediately suggest the theatre . . .
they strike a note of adult education and sober self-improvement, 13
equally remote from the modern or the Elizabethan playhouse."
Another reference by George Bernard Shaw alludes to the fact that
IQlbid., p. 74.
llGeorge Bernard Shaw, "ElizabethanAthletes at Oxford," Shaw's Dramatic Criticism. 1895-1898, selected by John F. Matthews,, (New York, 1959), p. 281.
12Shaw, "The Spacious Time, " Ibid. , p. 281.
13Speight, Andrew Poel, p. 74.
15
not only were the principles now acknowledged in Readers Theatre
prevalent, but other group reading techniques similar to Chamber
Theatre, were also being used during this
Years ago, comparing the effects of Much Ado as performed by the Lyceum and as read through by a number of amateurs seated in evening dress on the platform of the London Institution, I found the amateurs' performance was more vivid and enjoyable, and that the illusion though flatly contradictory by the costumes and surroundings, was actually stronger. I happened to witness, too, a per-formance of Browning's Luria under circumstances still more apparently ludicrous. It was acted - not merely read - in a lecture theatre at University College against a background of plain curtains, by performers also in evening d r e s s . ^
It can be inferred from the preceding resume that the principles
and techniques now considered as group interpretation of literature
were practiced prior to this century. However, since few details
are available and these are not specifically in an educational context,
it is necessary to regard group interpretation as an instructional
innovation of the Twentieth Century. Until Charles Laughton and Paul
Gregory produced Don Juan in Hell (1951), journal articles discussed
group interpretation exclusively as an educational vehicle.
During the first three decades of this century, speech teachers
were struggling for sanctions in the academic world. For interpretation
to become accepted as a legitimate speech art, it was necessary for the
teachers of oral interpretation to rid the discipline of the elocutionary
l^George Bernard Shaw, Saturday Review. July 20, 1895, cited in Edwin Wilson, Shaw on Shakespeare (New York. 1961), p. 22.
16
reputation. Resistance came from within and from without the speech
field. In the thinking of many people, oral interpretation meant an
exhibitionary "reading," complete with imitations of "bugles, bird
15
notes, bells, moaning, groaning, and tremolos." This bias
eventually carried over into group readings. Attackers "found it
{choric speaking artificial, mechanical, smacking of exhibitionism 16
or undeniably dull ." Apparently this attitude prevailed well into the
1940's.
Speech was generally accepted as an academic discipline by the
mid 1930's, and to define goals and functions for the speech arts and
English courses, A Committee for the Advancement of Speech Education
in Secondary Schools published a course of study in The Quarterly
Journal of Speech. Acting, reciting, and oral reading were assigned to 17
the realm of English teachers. No reference is made to group interpreta-
tion. In the same issue, Gladys Borchers listed four elements of
speech: voice, diction, language, and thought. The first two clearly
belong to the realm of speech, but the last two presented "confusing 15Mary Maud Babcock, "Interpretative Presentation versus
Impersonative Presentations," Quarterly Tournal of Public Speakinq. II (April, 1916), 22.
16Charlotte Lee, "Choric Speaking," Making Words Come Alive * Cornelius C. Cunningham (Dubuque, Iowa, 1951), p. 186.
l^Committee for Advancement of Speech Education in Secondary Schools, "A Course of Study in Speech for Secondary Schools," Quarterly Journal of Speech, XXII (February, 1936).
17
1 8
issues of jurisdiction" according to Borchers. In most instances
textbooks and articles considered choral speaking as a means for
teaching poetry in the elementary grades. For all practical purposes
group interpretation was at an impasse by the 1940's. This remained
the status of group interpretation until the First Reading Quartette
toured the United States with George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell,
followed by the reading of Stephen Vincent Benet's Tohn Brown's Body.
From these performances, group readings have again become popular with 19
American audiences. This popularity has led to much experimentation
among speech teachers. Notable among these are such innovators as
Robert Breen and Leslie Irene Coger.
When one considers the references to the Greek choruses,
Andrew Poel's Reading Society, Austin's Chironomia, and the group
recitations of the elocution classes , perhaps it is advisable to state
that group interpretation had no beginnings. Perhaps there were only
modifications and refinements of techniques and methods already in
existence. Whatever the evolution, the form of group interpretation
now termed verse-speaking, or choric reading, appeared in Germany
and England between 1920 and 1925.
l^Gladys Borchers, "An Approach to the Problem of Oral Style." Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXII (February, 1936), 114.
19John Dolman, Jr., Art of Reading Aloud (New York, 1959), p. 18.
18
Wilhelm Leyhausen organized a speech choir at the University
of Berlin about 1920. He and his choirs toured throughout Europe.
These choirs were organized on the same principles observed in the
English and American speaking choirs. They were conceived as "an
organ of human voices, divided into soprano, alto, tenor, and bass 20
voices." The repertory of Leyhausen's choirs consisted of classic
Greek drama. After Leyhausen's retirement, Herta Reclam assumed
the directorship, and has continued the traditions outlined by
Leyhausen. It was not evident from Reclam's article whether she or
Leyhausen instituted the practice of using professional actors in solo 21
parts while students performed in the choirs. Leyhausen's ideals are
retained in the Delphiads which he organized in 1950. These
Delphiads are held so that student groups "interested in choric poetry
and universal dramatic literature" throughout the world "can meet to
perform, discuss their concepts of choric speaking, and learn from 22
each other." Apparently there are organized choric reading groups in 23
almost every Western country.
20Herta Reclam, "Choric Speaking in Greek Tragedies Performed by Students," The Speech Teacher. XI (November, 1962), 286.
2 l l b i d . . p . 286.
22lbid.. p. 284.
23ibid.
19
The elocutionists in England, as in America, lef t their mark
on the public reading of l i terature. John Masef ie ld , recounting the
founding of the Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse, re la tes
that the elocut ionis ts , "made a child in a pinafore on prize day, a
• . 24 thing that strong men fly from screaming." Masefield and his wife
founded the Oxford Recitation (later the Oxford Festivals) contest in
verse-speaking in 1923, after hearing a group of Marjorie Gullan's
25
verse-speaking experiments a t the Edinburgh Musical Fest ival .
These Verse-Speaking Festivals were sti l l being held in 1938.
Under Gullan's direction, choric speaking became an establ ished
art form, and her presentations set the pattern for other verse-speaking
26 choirs. The group of speakers were divided into light, middle, and
27
dark voices , and generally spoke in unison or antiphonal arrangements.
Mona Swann was a lso a major influence in the English verse-speaking
movement. Mary Major Crawford makes the following comparison
between Gullan and Swann.
24john Masefield, "With the Living Voice," an address given at the First General Meeting of the Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse, October 14, 1924.
25john Masef ie ld , "Introduction," The Oxford Recitations (New York, 1928), p . 5 .
26Marjorie Gullan, Choral Speaking, seventh edit ion. (London, 1961), p . 31.
27Mary Haldman Armstrong, "Certain Aspects of Choral Speaking," Quarterly Journal of Speech. XXIV (February, 1938), 117.
20
Miss Swann tries to get unity of thought, while retaining individuality of expression. She does not aim at a perfect choir, but to lead each child to desire the perfect thing. Miss Gullan's aim is different. Her ideal is perfection in the speech choir. Therefore, she attacks the problem directly. She trains. Miss Swann strives in general for an easy conversational tone. Miss Gullan's choir gives an effort a little less near speech, more like recitative.28
From England the concept of verse-speaking spread to America about
1925. Both Gullan and Swann conducted c lasses in the United
States , and by 1936 choric reading was established as a cultural
and educational influence. Active leaders in the choric reading
movement were Wallace B. Nichols, Marion Parsons Robison, Agnes
Currin Hamm, Virginia Sanderson, and Marguerite DeWitt.
Marguerite DeWitt appears to have been the most active
personality within the,choric speaking movement in America. She
organized the Oral Arts and Crafts Center in New York City, and the
emphasis of this center seems to have been the verse-speaking choir.
About the same time DeWitt was a member of the National Recovery
Council. She implies at that time (1934) there were many active efforts
in group interpretation scattered about the United States on college
campuses and as community projects. She implies that choric drama
was the experimental form in these projects. Her vision was to see
government-sponsored group reading projects organized in communities
where unemployment and poverty were widespread. Particular emphasis
28Crawford, "Speech Choirs in Europe," p. 445.
21
was given to group reading as a cultural and educational media in
community projects and in settlement houses. Public schools did
29
not seem to be directly concerned in DeWitt's thinking.
Marguerite DeWitt developed lilts (rhythmical, song-like
verses) for group work under a system defined as "euphony/1 which 30
was designed to produce "utility of pleasant sounds phonetically." t
She emphasized the Greek chorus concepts to heighten the effect or to
31
supplement the unfolding of the story in drama. She continued by listing
such plays as Man and the Masses, Murder in the Cathedral, The Rock.
Green Pastures, and Porgy and Bess, which could be adapted to choric 32
speaking performances, but she does not explain how these adaptations
should be accomplished. It is puzzling to note that as ambitious and
influential as DeWitt appears to have been from her articles, her
influence does not appear in speech journals. This warrants further
investigation.
'Toward the end of the depression years on many college campuses,
choral speaking was a part of speech and English curricula, either as
a course or as a co-curricular activity. Some instructors were beginn-
ing to experiment with various methods of presentation. Alice W. Mills
29Marguerite DeWitt, "Shall We Recite in Groups," Practical Methods. p. I f f .
30lbid., p. 8.
3 l lbid . , p. 1.
32lbid.. p. 2.
22
relates one such experiment. She states that her choir wore "long,
golden robes, similar to the Greek chorus. Subtle lighting effects
were used to heighten the lofty lines of Euripides' choruses from
33
The Trolan Women." In the same article Mills .recounts that group
reading programs included selections from the Psalms and nonsensical
verse spoken in unison and antiphonal groups with solos, duets, 34
and trios.
Although choric reading retained i ts chief characteristics of
mass recitation of poetry by robed choirs divided into light and dark
voices, some directors experimented with lighting effects , costumes,
and other stage techniques for heightening effects . However, they
often expressed a sense of guilt for doing so. Esther Galbraith
presented three standard selections for a high school assembly
program. In this program, she made extensive use of lighting,
costumes, stage techniques, and pantomimes. In describing the
presentation, Galbraith says apologetically:
Costuming and stagings as elaborate as were provided on this occasion were not always approved by directors of speaking choirs, but with our immature audience, interest and appreciation of the poems were much e n h a n c e d . 3 5
33Alice W. Mills, "Choral Speaking at Mount Holyoake," Practical Methods, p. 65.
34ibid. , p. 65ff.
35Esther Galbraith, "A Note on Three Choral Readings," Quarterly Journal of Speech. XXII (December, 1936), 651.
23
More conservative people did indeed disapprove of this type of
presentation. Marjorie Gullan affirms, "when treating poetry,
they need not be dramatized by the use of colored lights or stage 36
properties and costumes, or of poses and acting by the speaker."
Between 1926 and 1936, journal art icles discussed the
potentials of verse-speaking choirs in glowing terms. Writers were
optimistic about the cultural and educational possibili t ies of choric
readings. Group interpretation was conceived as an educational
medium with vast social and psychological values. For many,
choral speaking provided a means for re-establishing poetry to an
influential position in literary studies. Research revealed that by
1939 choric reading or verse-speaking had not fulfilled these hopes.
The demise of choric reading can be traced only through isolated lines
and paragraphs in journal ar t ic les . Articles concerning the subject
became defensive in tone, and for some unestablished reason, choric 37
reading began to fall into disrepute. One possible reason for i ts decline
is suggested by Muriel B. Newton. "For many, Choral Reading has
deteriorated into verbatim recitations of poems by groups. For others 3 8
i t has been used for sound effects rather than interpretation."
36Marjorie Gullan, The Speech Choir (New York, 1937), p . 12.
37xrWin# "Some Trends in Interpretation," p . 80.
38Muriel B. Newton, The Unit Plan for Choral Reading (Boston. 1938), Forword.
24
Charlotte Lee suggests another reason. "It is frequently the habit .
of enthusiasts of choric speaking to think of this technique as an
39 end in i t se l f . " Marjorie Gullan suggests that there was a "growing
tendency to harmonize in speech choirs which was incompatible with
40
natural speech." In 1938, R. H. Robbins warned speech teachers
that there were those who were distrustful of the whole movement,
because some in the field made "indiscriminate use of the choral
techniques on each and every poem, merely because choral speaking 41
(was) fashionable."
Some speech teachers and administrators regarded choric
speaking as a quick means for a teacher to present large groups of
untrained pupils in a public program. Agnes Currin Hamm states that
"several instances have come to my attention recently which can only 42
make one fear for the future of Choral Speaking." Hamm then narrates
an account of a young woman who began a speaking choir after her
brother passed information to her about choral speaking which he had
gleaned from hearing three lectures. Another young lady who had been 39Lee, "Choric Speaking," p. 186.
40Gullan, Speech Choir, p. 12.
4lR. H. Robbins, "A Further Justification of Choral Speaking," Quarterly Journal of Speech. XXIV (October, 1938), 442.
42Agnes Currin Hamm, "Choral Speaking: A Word of Warning," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXV (April, 1939), 225.
25
in a speaking choir for three months volunteered to organize a speech
choir for her school. On another occasion, a principal informed his
speech teacher she was to begin a choral speaking choir after he had
heard a choir, and then decided he wanted one in his school. He
felt any speech teacher could teach choral speaking because "there
43
didn t seem much to i t . "
Teachers of choric reading sought a definitive concept of the
art form, but apparently this concept never developed as group
interpretation began to be rejected by more and more teachers. Ray
Irwin observes that by 1935 nearly forty books had been written
exclusively on choral interpretation, but after 1940 only a few articles 44
appeared in periodicals. Although the decline of choral speaking was
evident, speech textbooks continued to include a discussion of choric
reading techniques. Interestingly, the traditionally robed choir, reciting en masse with symphonic, or orchestra, techniques was still
, , 4 5
evident with the San Jose College Speech Choir in 1963.
It would be incorrect to assume that group interpretation of
literature completely disappeared from speech activities. However,
it was so poorly conceived, it ceased to be regarded with particular
importance. The movement, for all practical purposes, was dormant
43ibid., p. 225.
44irwin, "Some Trends in Oral Interpretation," p . 80.
45"Symphony in Sound," Movie Film, prepared by San Jose State College, 1963.
2 6
until 1951. Ray Irwin's observation should be noted.
My studies have not led me to an explanation of the demise of choral readings. The fact is that nothing has been written about it recently and it has been dropped from many college curricula. What appears to be happening is that it is being replaced by a form of play production known as Readers Theatre, a new sort of interpretation that is enjoying a lively r e n a i s s a n c e . ^
During the era of decline, there existed a form of interpreta-
tion identified as staged play readings. However, the staged
readings were generally regarded as a part of dramatics and not
interpretation. Kay Arthur Sturman gives a detailed discussion of
staged readings.
Staged readings are nothing new, of course. For years Stanford University has been using this method for various purposes, one of which is to try out prize-winning verse drama of the Maxwell Anderson contest . George Savage tes ts his new plays in this way while he is working on them. At Vassar, ' reading-rehearsals ' of the Greek tragedies are given regular productions. Many colleges and universities give readings with full cas t s , but in most cases they are done in the 'walk-on' manner. The real 'staged reading' however, includes only as much business as may be done above the table at which the actors s i t . There is no pretence of action. The only standing member of the cast reads all the stage directions from his rostrum, which is placed behind the actors ' table, and which is equipped with a special reading lamp . . 0 When not actually reading, the actors must sit with their heads bowed, raising them only when entrances are announced by the stage reader . . . Suggestions of characters in the costume of the actors may be used. . . emphasis placed on the interpretation of lines takes precedence over coordinations of movement with s p e e c h . 4 7
46]rwin, "Some Trends in Interpretation." p. 80.
47Kay Arthur Sturman, "Stage Readings of Plays", The Plavers Magazine. XVIII (October, 1941), p. 18.
27
In 1940 Charlotte Lee published an article explaining an
"innovation in group expression." Her innovation designated as
"kinetic projection," was choric reading with rhythmic bodily move-
48 ment. Cornelius C. Cunningham's book published in 1951 included
a discussion of "Choric Speaking," by Charlotte Lee and
49
"Choreographic Reading," by Robert Breen, which would lead one to
assume that interpreters were experimenting with group interpretation
techniques which would prepare the American public for a revival of
group interpretation as Chamber Theatre and Readers Theatre.
Perhaps the most important event in the field of group inter-
pretation was Paul Gregory's and Charles Laughton's First Drama
Quartette. When this group toured the United States and England,
it received expansive critical acclaim. Although the vehicle, Don
Juan in Hell, was a play and recognized actors filled the cast , John
Mason Br.own concedes, "This theatrically unorthodox production was 50
in the nature of a reading." In Theatre Arts. John Houseman writes,
"Charles Laughton long sought and finally found a perfect vehicle in the
48charlotte Lee, "Choric Reading and Kinetic Projection," Quarterly Toumal of Speech. XXIV (December, 1940), 545.
49Cornelius C . Cunningham, Making Words Come Alive (Dubuque, Iowa, 1951), p. 186ff.
SOjohn Mason Brown, "What—Shaw Again: Reading of Don Juan in Hell." XXXIV (November, 1951), 22.
28
51
'reading' of c lass ic and modern l i terature." Of the many contributions
made to the speech a r t s , the Gregory-Laughton experiment gave
respectabil i ty to group interpretation.
In the wake of the Gregory-Laughton productions, teachers of
interpretation began to try this "new" program technique. As these
teachers wrote about their experiences , many art icles began to appear
in speech journals which treated the art of group interpretation from
many a spec t s . To define their concepts , teacher-directors d iscussed
various methods of presentation with such designations as staged
readings , multiple readings, concert readings, group readings, p la t -
form readings, and interpreters theatre . The particular methods were
not new art forms as revealed in Austin's Chironomia and William Poel 's
Elizabethan Reading Society. Adelphi College in Garden City, Long 52
Is land, "established a regular readers* theatre in 1949." Sturman's
article previously cited would es tabl ish the use of Readers Theatre
techniques as early as 1941. Although Readers Theatre is now regarded
as interpretation by its proponents, the art form was generally used as
a part of dramatic act ivi t ies and presented by ac tors . Discussions of
this interpretative form appear in theatre magazines, or are indexed
under "drama". An identical situation exis ts with Chamber Theatre
John Houseman, "Drama Quartet te ," Theatre Arts. XXXV (August, 1951), 15.
52Aimee Scheef, "Adelphi's Readers Theatre," Theatre Arts. XXXII (June, 1953), 79.
29
productions. As a consequence, a student observes a period when
the position of group interpretation was uncertain. To some
authorities, Readers Theatre and Chamber Theatre were regarded as
theatre, while to others they were truly interpretation. The consensus
now points to a common interpretation-theatre background, and con-
siders Readers Theatre and Chamber Theatre as interpretation, not a
dramatic production.
This viewpoint constitutes a maturing attitude within the speech
arts . Writers in the field of group interpretation are avoiding the
errors made by advocates of verse-speaking who viewed the art form
as an end to itself. Currently writers are recognizing group inter-
pretation as a means to an end, and that group productions have some-
thing to contribute to all the speech arts .
In its current status, group interpretation is an established part
of the interpretation curriculum. There is an ever increasing amount of
literature in the field, specifically as Readers Theatre. Directors are
continuing to experiment with meaningful presentations through Choric
Interpretation r Chamber Theatre and Readers Theatre. There has been
a desirable shift of emphasis from a display of readers technique to the
presentation of an author's emotive, intellectual, and aesthetic ideas
to an audience.
30
Chapter Summary
Group interpretative techniques originated with communal
recitations during the primitive Dionysian festivals of ancient Greece.
From these beginnings, the Greek classical tragedy developed,
retaining the choric element. Group recitations have been a part of
liturgical rituals from the earliest t imes. Isolated references reveal
that the techniques now evident in group performances were observed
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Techniques generally
employed in group performances are evident in Andrew Poel's
Elizabethean Reading Society, Austin's Chronimia, and group
recitations by elocution c l a s se s . Organized efforts in group inter-
pretation as an educational instrument began in England under the
direction of Marjorie- Gjullan and in Germany under the direction of
Dr. Wilhelm Leyhausen. During the 1930's choral speaking (verse-
speaking) was the recognized.form of group interpretation. Choric
reading seemingly had a promising future, but due to misconceptions
and abuses , by 1940 it had begun to fall into disrepute. Evidence
Indicates that several college groups regularly used staged readings
of plays as a part of their dramatic act ivi t ies . Scattered experiments
by such people as Charlotte Lee and Robert Breen brought new
emphasis and respectability to group interpretation. These experi-
ments were dramatically exploited in the Paul Gregory-Charles Laughton
reading productions. Although there was a time when the position of
31
group interpretation shifted between theatre and oral interpretation,
it is now generally recognized that the methods incorporated in
Choric Interpretation, Chamber Theatre, and Readers Theatre are
interpretative techniques.
CHAPTER III
A PHILOSOPHY FOR GROUP INTERPRETATION
John Gassner asser ts that "the modern theatre has been
characterized by a freedom" and that, "the flexibility of dramatic
1
and theatrical convention is recognized everywhere." This same
principle a lso characterizes contemporary group interpretation. As
evidenced in Chapter II, group interpretation can no longer be
regarded as choric reading per s e . Directors have ambitiously
experimented with various presentational methods and techniques.
Having no specific guidelines, directors of group productions have
been left to their own self-expression, which has resulted in
performances that vacillated between nearly conventional theatre and
austere script-in-hand group readings. These experiments have
produced some very imaginative group performances, but they have
radically modified the concepts of group interpretation.
This diverse and creative experimentation has not been without
problems. A basic problem is the variety of terms used to describe the
various experiments. To define their individual concepts of group
interpretation, directors have used an assorted catalogue of terminology.
1 John Gassner, Directions in Modern Theatre and Drama (New York, 1966), p . 10.
32
33
The result is an array of conflicting and confusing nomenclature. A
cursory survey of ar t icles and books discussing group interpretation
reveals such nomenclature as multiple readings, concert readings,
staged readings, theatre readings, ensemble readings, Readers Theatre,
and Interpreter's Theatre. The many individualistic concepts just did
2 not take into account the tremendous inventiveness of writers.
On occasions the confusion of nomenclature has been extended
t
into the types of material best suited for group performances. This i s
the second problem created by the experimentation in group interpretation.
During the golden years of the verse-speaking choirs , narrative or
lyric verse was the only literature deemed suitable for group reci tat ion.
However, with the renewed interest in group interpretation, directors
have freely mixed methods and l i terature. For example, one of the
most entertaining Choric Interpretations directed by this writer was
Arthur Guiterman's, poem "Pershing at the Front." The poem was
presented by four boys costumed in army fatigues and helmets. The
readers used marching pantomime as suggested by the text , and their
eye contact shifted between onstage and offstage focus . They spoke
direct discourse in solos and the narration in ensemble. This
particular production was called Choric Interpretation, but it included
many elements which will be identified as Chamber Theatre. Another
2Chester C . Long, "The Poem's Text as a Technique of Performance in Public Group Reading," Western Speech, XXXI (Winter, 1967), 29.
34
time, in a Chamber Theatre production of Shirley Jackson's short
story "The Lottery," passages were interpreted with synchronized
speaking, an element of Choric Interpretation. It is evident, then,
that there are no specific lines of distinction between techniques and
types of material to be selected.
As the traditional concepts of group interpretation were
altered and as directors of group productions continued to experiment
with styles of presentation, serious questions concerning the purpose,
nature, and attributes of group interpretation began to ar i se . This is <
a third problem brought about by the varied experimentation with group
interpretation: What constitutes this particular art form? To answer
this question, directors began to publish their observations and
experiences, and from these published observations, a general
philosophy of group interpretation has begun to be formulated. Valuable
discussions of the philosophies, objectives and techniques, and scripts
are now being included in several textbooks. A l ist of the more
important textbooks include Leslie Irene Coger and Melvin White,
Readers Theatre Handbook; Chloe Armstrong and Robert Brandes, The
Oral Interpretation of Literature; Wallace Bacon, The Art of Interpreta-
tion; Charlotte Lee, Oral Interpretation, (third edition). Charlotte
Lee refers to an unpublished manuscript on Chamber Theatre by Robert '
Breen which should be of vast importance when and if i t i s published.
35
Although these textbooks contain many areas of concord,
several points of contradistinction are evident. For instance, the
interpretation-theatre duality of group interpretation is unanimously
recognized. Also they acknowledge the experimental nature of group
interpretation. Obvious areas of differences are observed in the
divisions of styles. For example, Bacon subdivides his chapter on
group interpretation into Choric Interpretation, Chamber Theatre, and
Readers Theatre. Lee observes Bacon's terminology, but considers
Choric Interpretation as a segment of oral interpretation and Readers
Theatre is discussed as a theatre oriented activity. Coger and White
ostensibly identify Chamber Theatre and Readers Theatre as homogeneous t
modes of group interpretation. Armstrong and Brandes discuss group
interpretation as staged readings. They define Theatre Readings as
staged readings of drama and Chamber Theatre as staged presentations
of other forms of literature. These latter authors do not regard Choric
Interpretation within the realm of staged readings. There is agreement
among these authorities that verse literature constitutes the repertoire
for Choric Interpretation. Observing Breen's definition, the consensus
among the authors regards narrative prose fiction as the only literature
to be adapted for a Chamber Theatre performance. There is a wide
divergence of opinion concerning the types of literature suitable for a
Readers Theatre performance. Charlotte Lee regards dramatic literature
(drama) as the only material to be interpreted in Readers Theatre. Coger
36
and White deem any literature which expresses a character delineation
with or without a narrator within the realm of Readers Theatre. Other
authorities, observing Don Geiger's philosophy, feel that any
literature deserves to be presented in a group performance without
consideration of mode or style of presentation.
From the preceding discussion, it should be evident that no
single nomenclature or philosophy will embrace all the concepts of
group interpretation. Although many advances have,been made in
defining principles, concepts and philosophies continue to be al tered.
A director and his interpretative group are still free to find new
experiences with li terature. Perhaps this is the most rewarding and
stimulating aspect of a group production for the participants.
A second aspect which creates an element of confusion for
spectators and performers i s that group interpretation lacks its own
attributes and traditions. While sharing the objectives and methods
of interpretation, group performances draw on many production
techniques of theatre. "Theatre and interpretative reading had a
common background. In Interpreter's Theatre they are coming together 3
again ." Armstrong and Brandes elaborate
Although there are many variations in the methods used to present the staged readings, it is generally agreed that the purpose of the approach is to present good literature in a lively
3Leslie Irene Coger, "Interpreter's Theatre: Theatre of the Mind," Quarterly Journal of Speech. XLIX (April, 1963), 158.
37
manner The staged reading, as the name implies, is a compromise between drama and oral interpretation in which readers adopt a limited amount of the theatre without any pretense of giving a p lay . 4
Group interpretation's position as a part of oral interpretation
has never been seriously questioned, but there have been critics from
within and from without the speech discipline who have challenged the
use of theatrical elements in a group interpretative performance. These
critics have regarded this aspect of group interpretation a s exhibitionary
or pseudo-drama. However, in the prevailing atmosphere of freedom,
the "interpreter is not limited. He is largely free to adapt such
5
methods as will carry his meaning most effect ively."
The precedent for employing theatrical lighting and costumes to
heighten an interpretative performance can be traced to the beginning
of the verse-speaking movement. Some of these early verse-speaking
choirs performed in robes designed after the c lass ical Greek chorus.
Two Choric Interpretation productions performed at Sherman High School,
Sherman, Texas (1966), will illustrate ways in which theatrical
effects can be used to a s s i s t readers to communicate an author's mean-
ing to an audieince. The first selection was Edna St. Vincent Millay's
poem "I Like Americans." This poem's language is very direct and
4Chloe Armstrong and Paul Brandes, Oral Interpretation of Literature (New York. 1963), p. 289.
^Ibid. , p . 18.
38
personalized, and it is written with a very informal, female
conversational att i tude. A formal, unison reading of this poem
would not have conveyed the author's conversational atmosphere; t
therefore, the lines were divided between ten or twelve girls
comparable to play dialogue. To further heighten the female view-
point, the girls chose to set the interpretation in a health spa . The
girls wore warm-ups and gym clothes. While performing a variety of
body exercises , they presented Millay's poem with a, "gossipy"
conversational delivery. The second production was "The Hollow
Men," by T. S. Eliot. In keeping with this selection's more formal
nature, the interpreters appeared uniformly dressed in black trousers
and skirts , white shirts and blouses with black turtle-neck dickies.
They were statically arranged on multi-level platforms. The futile
and fatal is t ic emotional content of the poem was conveyed through
two theatrical e f fec t s . A stage setting consisting of platforms set
against three stage flats arranged in an abstract formation was used.
A symbolic image from the poem was painted on each f la t . As an
example, one flat had scarecrow images, another a defoliated tree,
and the third a symbol of a broken column. Lighting effects were
also used to enhance the mood of the poem. A green olivette flood
light provided a back light, and blue border lights were used to light
the performing area . With both poems, it was felt by the interpreters
that these staging effects ass is ted them to communicate the mood and
39
attitude of the poems. Comments from spectators seemed to
support the performers' reactions.
Turning now to a second theatrical influence observed in
contemporary group productions, there is a growing awareness of
Bertholt Brecht's and Irwin Piscator's Epic Theatre influence on the
general philosophy of group interpretation. In Readers Theatre
Handbook. Irene Coger and Melvin White apply Brecht's principles
6 to Readers Theatre. In his Chamber Theatre course at Northwestern
University, Robert Breen gives particular stress to Brecht's
philosophy as background for an understanding of Chamber Theatre
7 procedures. Apparently drawing considerable information from
8 9
Breen's unpublished manuscript, Charlotte Lee and Wallace Bacon
relate Epic Theatre concepts to Chamber Theatre a l so .
Space does not permit an exhaustive discussion of the Brecht-
Piscator influence on group interpretation, so only the more obvious
areas will be considered. The fundamental principle noted in Brecht's
^Leslie Irene Coger and Melvin White, Readers Theatre Handbook (Glenview. Illinois, 1967), p . 17ff.
7 'Information obtained from the class notes of Mrs. Doris
Burkett Simpson, ex-student of Dr. Robert Breen, Northwestern University, 1960-63.
8Charlotte Lee, Oral Interpretation, third edition (Boston, 1965), p . 219ff.
^Wallace Bacon, The Art of Interpretation (New York . 1966), p . 319ff.
40
Epic Theatre is the alienation, or estrangement, effect. This is not
to be construed to mean that the interpreter or spectator becomes
alienated, or estranged, from the material in the sense that he
becomes hostile to i t . John Willett clarifies this concept.
(AlienatioiJ corresponds to our own stage use of the word effect: a means by which an effect of estrangement could be got . . . It is a matter of detachment, or reorientation: exactly what Shelley meant when he wrote that poetry makes familiar objects to be as if they were not familiar. *0
In epic theatre these estrangement effects might be a
narrator-actor speaking off-stage to the audience, banners, pro-
jections, sound effects, lighting effects, or set designs. The
premise of Brecht's philosophy is to do everything possible to
remind an audience they are viewing a play. To do this he proposed
to create a detachment and objectivity within his actors and audience
by heightening the theatrical effects. Brecht's concept of epic
theatre was influenced by the Chinese acting style. In this mode,
the emotions of the characters were externalized through attitudes
of the actors. The actor was to hold himself remote from the character
being portrayed. It was to be an objective portrayal and not one in
which the actor lost himself in the character. To accomplish this,
three techniques (i..e., alienation effects) were employed:
(l) characters spoke lines in the narrative third person, (2) present
John Willett, The Theatre of Bertholt Brecht (New York, 1959), p. 170.
41
events were expressed in past tense, and (3) stage directions were
spoken aloud.
In group interpretation productions Brecht's ideas are used
for the same purpose. The alienation effects are used to heighten
the literature being interpreted and to remind the audience that the
performance is an interpretative experience in which the interpreters
and audience can share a common enjoyment. Some of the aliena-
tion effects easily recognized in group performances are symbolic
costumes and sets , lighting effects , reading stands, stools, and
manuscripts. To illustrate the manner in which estrangement effects
are used in a group production, reference is made to an unproduced
Readers Theatre adaptation of Nikolai Yevreinov's mono-drama,
The Theatre of the Soul. Technical requirements make this play very
difficult to produce in the conventional theatre. For instance, the
play requires a gigantic heart to beat throughout the play above the
stage floor. In the Readers Theatre script, all staging aspects are
excluded, and only seven reading stands and stools are required. To
fulfill the play's original staging requirements, extensive use of
lighting and sound effects are called for in the Readers Theatre
adaptation. A red strobe light is used to communicate the idea of the
beating heart. When adapting this script, it was suggested by some
students to project a movie of a beating heart behind the readers. This
John Willett, Brecht on Theatre (New York. 1964), p. 138.
42
idea was rejected, but a film projection would be a type of i
alienation effect a l so .
Perhaps more important to group interpretation is Brecht's
narrator-reader (actor) concept. This premise is particularly
important when non-dramatized prose is adapted for a group
interpretation performance. The narrator-reader becomes a vital
person in the reading, moving into and out of scenes as the narrative
requires. At times the narrator-reader reads directly to the audience,
and at other times he shifts his reading to characters onstage, and
at other times he may become a character within the narrative. The
narrator-reader serves as a fulcrum to place focus onstage or offstage
according to the demands of the script and style of production.
Although the vehicle is neither Epic Theatre nor group interpretation,
the Stage Manager in Our Town is an example of the actor-narrator.
Another example i s observed in The World of Shalom Alchem.
A third element which tends to create objectivity and detach-
ment for the interpreters in a group production is locus . Locus is
the placement, or plane, of eye contact of the interpreters. Usually
locus is directed offstage into the realm of the audience. This
art ist ic detachment, or aesthetic distance, proposes to identify a
reader with the audience, whereas, an actor being identified with
the play, becomes totally immersed in a characterization and thereby
43
becomes aesthetically involved with the character being
portrayed. ^
Just as there are elements of Epic Theatre's estrangement
effects evident in group interpretation productions, there is a
correlation between Epic Theatre dramaturgy and script adaptation
for a group performance. Dramaturgy of the Epic Theatre does not
permit the construction of a "well-made" play. Rather, the Epic
dramas are put together in episodes, or sequences, and each
episode may be independent of the others. The end result is a
13 montage or collage effect. The "web of episode, narrative, lyrical
14
interruption, choral chants and hortatory lectures" which shape
Epic Theatre scripts are unified by the narrator-actor. The resultant
effect generalizes ideas and events. It has been said that Epic 15
Theatre seeks to give a "kaleidoscopic view of history." In Epic
Theatre, "the point of view of production could be made more
generally intelligible . . . if we call it that of the genre painter 16
and the historian."
12John Dolman, Jr., The Art of Reading Aloud (New York, 1956), p. 28.
13willett, Brecht on Theatre. p. 174.
14Willett, Theatre of Brecht. p. 114.
15Gassner, Directions of Theatre, p. 299.
IGWillett, Brecht on Theatre, p. 58.
44
Many group interpretation scripts are put together in the same
fashion. Verse, narrative prose selections, letters, diaries, and
orations have been placed in conjunction, and a reader-narrator
filled in with transitions between selections. Songs and musical
interludes have also been included in group production scripts.
Events, thoughts, and personalities are telescoped together. Cutting
a novel, play, or short story to a one hour or one-half hour presenta-*
tion telescopes events in such a manner that the audience gets only
an impression of a literary piece. This principle can be observed in
such group interpretation scripts as The Hollow Crown. In White
America. and The World of Carl Sandburg.
While several of Brecht's presentational principles are readily
identified in group performances, group interpretation is more nearly
aligned philosophically to Erwin Piscator's concept of Epic Theatre.
"The Brecht concept was that it appeals less to the feelings than to 17
the spectator's reason." Piscator on the other hand, asserts an
emotionally-intellectually centered performance.
I agree that the 'alienation' ideas would make use of our intelligence and bring us into a closer contact with the facts . I , however, wanted to get hold of the complete human being. I will only separate intelligence and emotion so that I can unite them in a higher level.
17ibid. , p. 22.
l^Erwin Piscator, "Objective Acting," Actors on Acting. edited by Cole Toby and Helen Krich Chening (New York, 1949), p. 289.
45
In a group interpretation performance, the director and interpreters,
in keeping with the objectives and purposes of oral interpretation,
not only propose to present an author's intellectual-emotional view-
points to an audience, but also they will seek to intellectually and
emotionally involve the audience in those viewpoints.
Chapter Summary
Two major points have been asserted in this chapter. First,
no single term will adequately fulfill the diverse concepts of
contemporary group interpretation. Second, group interpretation,
lacking any attributes and traditions of its own, is an eclectic
discipline sharing objectives and methods of interpretation while
employing many theatrical techniques to accomplish those objectives.
The most reasonable conclusion is that for a group interpretation
performance to be educationally and artistically valid, a teacher-
director must accept a pluralistic philosophy for this art form. Adopt-
ing this pluralistic philosophy implies the following principles. The
teacher-director and the interpretative group are at liberty to experi-
ment with forms and techniques of presentation because there is no
single form or style for a group interpretation production. A teacher-
director must recognize that group productions may vacillate between
interpretative and theatrical techniques, and in doing so, production
styles and methods will overlap and interchange between modes.
46
Furthermore, concepts and principles will continue to change as a
group experiments with various presentational techniques and
literary selections. This philosophy will permit a director to use
whatever means of interpretation that will best suit the context of
the literary selection. However, it must be stated that although
the'teacher-director is at liberty to treat a piece of literature in what-
ever manner he feels justified, he is not permitted to take liberties
with the piece of literature. A carte blanche attitude is indefensible
and tends to thwart the purpose of any educationally oriented
performance. The final mode and style of presentation is determined
by the material to be expressed.
For the above reason, this thesis has attempted to restrict its
discussion to certain conventions identified within the group interpreta-
tion nomenclature observed by Dr. Wallace Bacon—Choric Interpreta-
tion, Chamber Theatre, and Readers Theatre. Most group performances
can be classified within one of these three forms while permitting a
flexibility of style and literature. Also, consensus among textbooks
and journal articles accept these terms as properly designating the modes
of group interpretation although individual authorities may differ in
emphasis. '
CHAPTER IV
MODES OF GROUP INTERPRETATION
The eclectic nature of group interpretation makes it necessary
to discuss the three modes, Choric Interpretation, Readers Theatre,
and Chamber Theatre, individually and collectively since each form
has itjs own characteristic methods while sharing methods and purposes
with the other two forms. In this chapter Choric Interpretation,
Readers Theatre, and Chamber Theatre will be delineated and examined
in terms of development, characteristic elements, purpose of intention,
and general procedures of presentation,
Choric Interpretation
Choric Interpretation' continues the traditional mode of group
readirig. In the past, this mode has been identified as verse-speak-
ing, choral speaking, and choral reading. Most speech textbooks
have continued to include some discussion of Choric Interpretation
as a part of oral interpretation, although, in recent years, there have
been very few journal articles commenting on the style. Furthermore,
it has been observed that the more recent textbooks by Jere' Veilleux
and Keith Brooks have excluded any mention of Choric Interpretation and
47
48
have considered only Readers Theatre as group interpretation.
Traditionally Choric Interpretation has been characterized
by a glee club or choral choir organization. Groups were divided i
into light, medium, or dark voices. Selections were arranged for
unison, antiphonal, refrain, and sequential speaking. In 1956,
Charles Woolbert and Severina Nelson continued to echo the
traditional criteria for selecting material for the speaking chorus.
They indicated it should be "literature that has narrative, dramatic
and interesting quality. Furthermore this literature should be
objective in nature and universal in language." Also when per-
forming, the traditional speaking choirs wore robes fashioned after a
choral music group or after the style of the Greek dramatic chorus.
Early prpponents of choric reading advocated that the speaking choir
was to be thoroughly democratic, and the group was to, analyze a
selection and assign parts without the interference of a director.
We shall require a director, then, just as the glee club and the orchestra require directors. But before the director takes charge, we must, by means of individual study and group wide discussion decide upon the tempo we shall adopt and the pauses we shall observe, and the emphasis we shall employ. . . The director [isf merely the executive who carries out the will of the group. The chorus must be thoroughly democratic body until the poem's meaning and the requisite inflections, pauses, s tresses, e t c . , have been decided upon.^
1 Charles Woolbert and Severina Nelson, The Art of Interpretative Speech (New York, 1956), p. 522,
2Howard Seely and William Hackett, Experiences in Speaking (Chicago, 1940), p, 357.
49
Since most current journal articles relevant to this thesis
are concerned with Readers Theatre, it is difficult to determine the
contemporary status of Choris Interpretation. However, a survey
of textbooks and theses written after 1950, revealed seven
characteristic elements of a Choric Interpretation performance.
(1) The literature selected for interpretation is generally
presented in a formalized or stylized manner.
(2) Interpreters generally are statically situated, although
they are permitted greater freedom of gesture and movement than
characterized the traditional forms.
(3) Verse literature continues to be the basic repertory for
Choric Interpretation.
(4) There is a minimum of staging effects, but again there
is greater liberty than in past years.
(5) Selections are arranged in solo, ensemble, and
synchronized speaking. The light, medium, and dark vocal
arrangements divided into unison, antiphonal, and refrain speaking
are no longer applicable.
(6) Interpreters may, or may not, carry manuscripts.
(7) Eye contact is generally in an offstage locus.
Research has failed to reveal any authority who adequately
defines the purpose of the Choric Interpretation style. Most
authorities have attempted to describe the form in terms of techniques
50
and methods of presentat ion or in terms of the value which the media
had for the reader. John Dolman, J r . , states: "One reason for the
confusion of purposes, standards, and tastes in the speech arts is
the fact that so few people either as performers, or as listeners,
have taken the trouble to define the several arts . • . or to dis-
3
tinguish them clearly from one another." For this reason and for the
sake of clarity, this thesis proposes the following definition of
purpose. Choric Interpretation is an art form which employs ensemble 4
speaking to intensify the imaginative quality of verse literature through
aural and visual stimuli. During the era of the verse-speaking choirs,
this definition would not have been allowed. In the verse-speaking
choirs the entire emphasis was aural, and anything that bespoke of
costuming, staging, or theatrical effect was anathema. Within the
framework of current interpretation philosophy, group performances
have been emancipated from the traditional molds. While the emphasis
remains aural in Choric Interpretation, a director and an interpretative
group may use various aural and visual means to intensify, or
heighten, an author's intended purpose and to give the audience a
more pleasurable experience than would be available with the more
conventional solo reading.
^John Dolman, J r . , The Art of Reading Aloud (New York, 1956), p. 26.
4Imaginative is used in the Aristotlian sense that literature is a portrayal of men's actions and experiences.
51
While poetic literature continues to be the repertory of
Choric Interpretation, it is possible to use choric elements to
interpret prose material in Chamber Theatre or Readers Theatre
productions. Charlotte Lee provides a comprehensive insight into
the problem of selecting material for the Choric Interpretation.
Much of the good literature of all ages is readily adaptable to choric treatment . . . Let the group find material which first is of sufficient value to be worth the time required to perfect for presentation. Next consider whether the selection is so highly personal that many voices would destroy its real importance. Finally, scrutinize the material to ascertain whether it offers sufficient scope for the manipulation of varying voice quality.®
Practice and experimentation will provide a teacher-director
sufficient guidelines for selecting material to be presented in a
Choric Interpretation performance. A basic listing of suitable poems
would include "Cool Tombs" and "Killers" by Carl Sandburg,
"Pershing at the Front" by Arthur Guiterman, "The Hollow Men," by
T. S. Eliot, "Night Comes to the City," by Claire Boiko, and any
selection from James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombones. Granted
these are standard select ions, but they serve admirably to initiate
students into group interpretation.
After selecting the literature it must be arranged for an ensemble
presentation. There is no formula for dividing a selection into solo,
5Charlotte Lee, "Choric Speaking," Making Words Come Alive. Cornelius C. Cunningham (Dubuque, Iowa, 1951), p . 188.
52
duet, ensemble, or unison speaking. The director and the Choric
group must experiment with various vocal groupings to find the most
satisfactory arrangement. Wallace Bacon concludes that arranging
a selection into vocal groups depends upon "the nature of the 6
selection itself. " When Sherman High School, Sherman, Texas,
presented God's Trombones (1966) as a Choric Interpretation
performance, the material had been arranged before it was presented
to the interpretative group. There was no effort to arrange the selec-
tion into the traditional form. The script was divided for solo, duet,
and quartet voices and a combination of voices in sectional and
cumulative readings. The final production script evolved after six
to ten weeks of rehearsal, and in many sections the script bore little
resemblance to the original arrangement. The group found that each
performance required some rearrangement of voices and groupings.
John V. Irwin and Marjorie Rosenberger alert a director to a danger
that exists when one is adapting a selection to any group interpreta-
tion presention. There is . . . the temptation to divide too often
merely to give a large number of persons opportunity to perform. There must be a reason for dividing into solos or small groups.' '
6Wallace Bacon, The Art of Interpretation (New York, 1966), p. 307.
?John V. Irwin and Marjorie Rosenberger, Modern Speech (New York, 1966), p. 434.-
53
As a general principle all staging aspects for Choric
Interpretation are formalized or stylized. Interpreters usually
remain in a static position, and gestures, when used, are
synchronized in the same groupings as vocalization. In this
manner bodily action becomes formalized. There is a degree of
symbolic gesture adapted from modern dance. Directors of Choric
Interpretation performances, who are contemplating the use of stage
props or stage lighting, would do well to study impressionistic,
expressionistic, and stylized theatrical staging. In this way a
group can heighten a poem's intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic
qualities. Choric Interpretation also extracts techniques from the
classical theatrical style which uses plastic linear planes and lines
to create its heightening effect.
Some authorities have attempted to derive a standardized
number of interpreters to be presented in a choric production. Again
the selection itself dictates the number of voices to be included.
Some have said that twenty-five to fifty-five readers should be used
in a Choric Interpretation performance, but experience indicates that
two to twenty voices in concert is more realistic.
The question is often asked, "Should interpreters in a Choric
Interpretation production hold manuscripts?" This seems to be a
matter of personal choice. Some directors feel that the manuscript is
an important estrangement effect and that the illusion of reading can be
54
created only when the manuscripts are present. Others prefer a
group to perform without the aid of a script.
The problem of reading locus is another factor requiring
attention. Locus is the plane or placement of the readers' eye
contact. This can be the most distracting element of group
interpretation. Most authorities assert that locus should be placed
in the realm of the audience, preferably, somewhere in the area
above the heads of the people in the last row of the room. With this
principle drilled into the interpreters, they stare at a point on the
back wall of the room without ever looking or seeing the audience.
The other extreme is that a group is not given a locus, so the
performers as individual readers establish locus their separate ways.
If a principle is needed to establish proper locus, perhaps the best
advice that can be given to a choric group is to have them look out
into the audience and establish visual contact with the spectators.
In this way the production becomes personalized, and the group is
able to draw the audience closer to the author's ideas.
Obviously, Choric Interpretation belies the old thought that
it was a quick and easy program device. A properly rehearsed Choric
Interpretation performance is time consuming and poses two primary
problems to a director and the interpreters. First, there must be 1
vocal and bodily synchronization within the group, and the group must
maintain a natural fluency between solo and ensemble speaking.
55
Vocal and bodily synchronization must receive careful con-
sideration since a Choric Interpretation performance emphasizes a
group of personalities communicating as one. There is no factor
in Choric Interpretation more important than getting a group of voices
to speak together intelligibly. No group of visual components can
carry an author's meaning against a garble of cluttered voices.
Synchronization goes deeper than just voices. It includes bodily f
attitudes, starting and stopping together, and focus of eye contact.
A group of readers must read as one. A clutter of uncoordinated voices will drown out a reading and an audience is left bewildered and annoyed; a set of unrelated interpretations being mouthed at one time will be equally destroying.®
Wallace Bacon suggests the idea of orchestration as a means
9
of compensating for this difficult problem. Evelyn Seedorf emphasizes
Choric Interpretation as "a regimentation of sounds which require a
discipline of articulators, based upon automatic kinesthetic responses."
Seedorf's emphasis is particularly important for obtaining an effective
interpretation. She implies the regimentation of discipline is based
on certain physical responses. To develop a synchronized interpreta-
tion, each interpreter will need to discipline himself to a single cause.
SBacon, Art of Interpretation, p. 207. !
f
9Ibid. . p. 307.
^Evelyn H. Seedorf, "Phonetic Approach to Choral Reading," Speech Teacher. VI (March, 1957), 121,
10
56
An interpreter surrenders his individual will for the benefit of the
group. Individuals must learn to hear and sense the responses of
the group. It becomes an automatic feeling within the group only
after lengthy hours of rehearsal. An esprit de corps will also assis t
a group in producing a synchronized performance.
A second difficulty confronting a Choric Interpretation per-
formance is the problem of developing fluency between readers. Bacon
again identifies this problem. "An unrehearsed chorus will tend to
finish a choral passage and then simply wait, at ease , until the 11
solo reader has finished his lines; then, they will plunge in again."
In order to develop a fluent flow of reading in a choric production,
interpreters must "remain in the scene" by maintaining locus throughout
the performance. The interpreters are "reading" even when they are
not speaking. Next, a director can gain a great amount of fluency
simply by requiring individual readers to be responsible for knowing
(memorizing) the entire selection.
In summary, Choric Interpretation represents the traditional
mode of group interpretation, and it is identified by an ensemble
interpretation of verse literature. This verse literature may be
heightened by selective formal or stylized stage techniques. Choric
Interpretation exists for the purpose of presenting verse literature to
an audience through aural and visual stimuli. Choric Interpretation
11 Bacon, Art of Interpretation. p. 308,
57
enjoys a wider scope of material and a greater flexibility of
interpretation techniques than once characterized the verse-
speaking vhoirs. The problems inherent within a Choric Interpretation t
performance can be remedied by close cooperation between director
and interpreters. These problems include such items as maintaining
synchronized vocal and bodily presentation and developing a unified
flow of interpretation between solo and ensemble divisions.
Readers Theatre
The increasing number of Readers Theatre production scripts
and textbooks which include a discussion of this mode of group inter-
pretation attests to its growing popularity. In turn, this popularity
has precipitated an increasing number of journal articles which attempt
to define the mode and the type of material to be presented. Research
revealed that the Readers Theatre nomenclature has been applied to
almost any form of group interpretation performance. It is speculated
that eventually the term Readers Theatre will become the accepted
nomenclature applied to all group reading productions. This
12 observation was confirmed in a letter by Leslie Irene Coger.
The general style for both amateur and professional Readers
Theatre productions was established by the Laughton-Gregory produc-i
tions of Don Tuan in Hell and Tohn Brown's Body. These productions
12 Personal letter from Leslie Irene Coger, January 15, 1968,
58
presented three and four interpreters dressed in formal evening attire, (
seated on stools. • In Tohn Brown's Body the readers were supported
by a chorus. Nevertheless, there is unanimity among directors and
writers that Readers Theatre, enjoys a maximum degree of performance
flexibility. There is no one way to present literature in a Readers
Theatre production. The material itself determines the ultimate
13
techniques to be employed. Melvin White and Leslie Irene Coger
have done much to clarify the real nature of this group interpretative
mode, and in Handbook for Readers Theatre, they list six character-
ist ic elements of the style. 1. Scenery and costumes are not used, or are only selectively implied. 2. Action or physical movement is merely suggested by the interpreter. 3. A narrator, speaking directly to an audience, usually establishes the basic situation of theme and binds the segments together. 4. A script is in evidence somewhere, usually carried by the interpreters. 5. There is a continuing effort to develop and maintain a close, more personalized relationship between performer and audience. 6. The audience's attention is concentrated upon the literature through aural a p p e a l . ^
Any confusion that surrounds Readers Theatre stems from the
fact that no single definition will suffice for all the aspects observed
by different groups. Some misunderstanding certainly exists because
13Coger and White, Handbook, preface.
14Ibid., p. 19.
59
many of the earlier articles treating Readers Theatre appeared in
theatre magazines or considered the medium as "the group inter-
15
pretation of drama." Current production scripts and journal articles
reveal that Readers Theatre performances vacillate between near con-
ventional theatre to the other end of the continuum approaching
conventional reading script performances. However, authorities
are careful to point out that Readers Theatre is not theatre, and it is
not a dramatization of literature. Readers Theatre proposes to present
a group reading of any literature, with or without delineated character, !
and with or without tjie presences of a narrator, in such a manner as
to establish locus off stage into the minds and imagination of the
audience. This definition of purpose appears to have merit because a
definition which describes Readers Theatre as presenting only material
involving delineated characters would exclude many of the Readers
Theatre productions performed by interpretative groups. Other
definitions proposed by authorities would encompass both Choric
Interpretation and,Chamber Theatre performances.
The flexible nature of Readers Theatre permits a director
enormous possibilities for selecting and adapting material to the
medium. The repertory of material which can be adapted to a Readers
Theatre performance is limited by the director's personal literary
15Lee, Oral Interpretation, p. 333.
16Bacon. Art of Interpretation. p. 311.
60
knowledge and imagination. Plays, novels, stories, and poems
that emphasize strong character and plot development have the
greatest affinity to this medium. Authorities consistently outline
the following basic guidelines. Plays which depend on stage
business for effect are less suitable for Readers Theatre than plays
in which the dialogue element has greater dominance. Novels,
short stories, or other prose selections should contain a high
dramatic objectivity. Poetry, when used, should contain strong
narrative overtones.
From the standpoint of literary exposure, Readers Theatre
offers interpreters an opportunity to present to an audience literature
that could not ordinarily be performed in any other manner. Many
short novels, experimental plays, and radio scripts could be easily
adapted to this style of presentation. Carson McCullers' The Ballad
of the Sad Cafe and John Steinbeck's The Pearl are examples of short
novels that would adapt well to Readers Theatre. Yevreinov's play,
The Theatre of the Soul, has previously been cited as a play practically
excluded from conventional theatre, but well within the realm of
Readers Theatre. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem,
Evangeline, contains elements that would adapt well to this group
performance style. As a final word regarding the selection of material
for a Readers Theater production, a director should keep these essential
criteria in mind.
61
The literature should above all provide provocative ideas and interesting characters in intriguing action; it should contain rich language with evocative overtones; and it should be capable of being cut to a reasonable time limit and sti l l preserve its essent ial unity, a wholeness of expression. Ideally, literature chosen for this medium will promise the audience with an enduring e x p e r i e n c e . ^
There are two basic approaches for arranging material for a
Readers Theatre performance. In the first approach a director will
select a novel, play, or long poem, then cut it to the required per-
forming time. To cut a longer work, key scenes should be retained
with little editing. It should retain its unity, but scenes and events
may be rearranged for coherence. Plot tension and relief should be
carefully built into the reading performance. The second approach
is to combine several individual pieces into a thematic arrangement
to produce a collage or montage effect . Examples of this type of
script would be The Hollow Crown and The World of Carl Sandburg.
This approach is more difficult and requires greater skill at adaptation
than cutting a longer selection because the longer work has unity and
climax already developed into its text . However, when a director
assumes the task of putting together a variety of material for a produc-
tion, care must be used to develop unity and coherence into the script.
Contrast and conflict must be woven into the fabric of the collage. At
times the adapter is required to write transitions or bridges between
scenes or episodes. The mere mechanical process of collecting and
17Coger and White, Handbook. p. 16.
62 t
selecting material for a thematic approach probably.accounts for the
dearth of manuscripts developing a theme. The difficulties involved
in this type of script should not deter a director from employing i t ,
because this approach has the possibility of being the most creative
and original of the two methods of script preparation.
Staging for Readers Theatre should be psychologically drawn
rather than l i teral . The imagination of the audience should be left
free to fill in costuming and set detai ls . The emphasis is on suggested
staging elements. Under Milkwood is a standard example of a Readers t
Theatre script that has been performed many times with hats to convey
different character costumes. In the most characteristic Readers
Theatre productions, five or six readers are seated on high stools
behind reading lecterns. Manuscripts are held by the interpreters or
are placed on the lectern. Keith Brooks makes a particularly important
observation about the seating arrangement for interpreters. If the seating arrangement varies from the traditional
straight line or semi-circle, it does so to point psychological distance between and among the characters or ideas being suggested. In this case readers could be located on different levels or at varying distances from each other. These locations might suggest to the audience, degrees of conflict or harmony between and among the characters or ideas . Note that the function of such arrangement is to suggest psychological distance rather than a literal association.
Perhaps the most disturbing element for an audience in a Readers
Theatre experience results when the production moves too close to
conventional theatre. Often an audience is not prepared to accept a
18Brooks, "Readers Theatre," 15.
63
combination of lecterns, stools, and manuscripts with costuming,
lighting effects, or projections. Wallace Bacon's appraisal of
staging techniques offers an adequate summary.
Readers Theatre may indeed use costumes. It may use makeup, It may employ entrances and exists. It may use lights. It may use scenery. It may use props. It ought, we think, to u se books for locating the performance. It ought to limit costume, makeup, lights, scenery and props in the interests of keeping the scene essentially offstage, though it should not prohibit them (as a matter of definition) and hence run the risk of impoverishing the experience of the audience. ^
There are three inherent difficulties in a Readers Theatre
performance that must be recognized and met by a director. The
first problem has to do with the shifting of locus on and offstage.
The second problem facing a direptor is the manner which interpreters
will move into and out of scenes. The third problem is one that
requires an interpreter to read several parts.
Grimes and Mattingly identified the matter of locus in this
manner. "One of the difficulties of the interpreter . . . is to keep
a sense of characters talking to each other and yet not bring the scene 20
onstage." Keith Brooks sees this problem as one in which the
interpreters psychologically project the scene, the situation, and the
19Bacon,• Art of Interpretation, p. 314.
^Owilma Grimes and Aletha Mattingly, Interpretation: Writer, Reader. Audience (San Francisco. 1961), p. 334.
64
21
characters into the realm of the audience.
•Locus in Readers Theatre is generally located offstage, and
readers will not interact between themselves onstage. • Rather they
will place the scene out into the audience, and their interactions
will meet at a predetermined level or plane. This conception is
perhaps the most difficult concept for a group of student-interpreters
to grasp. It has been observed in some Reader Theatre productions
that those interpreters who have had some experience with conventional
theatre, either as a performer or as a spectator, will tend to permit
their theatre orientation to interfere with their interpretative experience.
When this occurs, the Readers Theatre production resolves into total
emotional involvement and characterization. At other times it has
been observed that young interpreters have a tendency to overplay
locus, in that to locate a selection in the minds of the audience, they
fix their eye contact on the back wall with no perceptual contact with
the audience. This is the other extreme and is just as bothersome to
the audience as too much onstage focus.
To generalize the principle, locus for Readers Theatre is
identical to Choric Interpretation, however, there are many factors
that will tend to pull the scene onstage. Some of these factors are
the readers' emotional involvement, staging effects , the absence of
scripts, and a high degree of literal presentation through bodily move1*
ment, costuming, and makeup. This is not to'infer that an onstage
21Brooks, "Readers Theatre," 14.
65
locus is never employed, for there are occasions when the material
requires onstage focus. Bacon asserts that it is impossible to
22
maintain offstage locus throughout an entire performance. Bacon
makes this assertion for two reasons. First, he indicates that
sometimes a group will select material that emphasises something to
be seen, and the interpreters are required to place it on stage lest its
absence destroys the effect of the literary selection. Second, since
most audiences are conditioned to the convention al theatrical onstage
locus, the strain of trying to maintain the interpreters' concentration
of offstage locus throughout a performance may be distracting to an
23
audience.
In the final resolution, locus for a Readers Theatre performance
must come from a director assisting the interpreters to become aware
of the subtle nuances of the literature being interpreted and react
accordingly. Proper locus comes as a result of the interpreters
developing a feel for the literature. Perhaps the most apparent factor in guiding the audience
to visualize and experience the scene are the concentration with which the readers themselves visualize the scene and the way they listen to one another. If the interpreters are truly seeing the characters in an action in their minds, the audience is likely to do the same. It is the ability to be in.the scene imaginatively that enables readers to project that scene to the audience. ^
22Bacon, Art of Interpretation. p. 316.
2 3Ibid. , pp. 312, 316, ' t
24white and Coger, Handbook. p. 42.
66
A second situation that will confront a director is the
problem of developing an effective means for getting interpreters
into and out of scenes. The general practice for establishing
entrances and exits in Readers Theatre performances is to have the
readers turn their backs to the audience when they are not reading.
When the cue for a reader to make an entrance approaches the
interpreter merely turns to face the audience. To have interpreters
actually enter and exit on cue is too distracting to be employed.
Some directors prefer to have the interpreters raise and lower their
heads to indicate entrances and exits. Other directors employ the
"freeze" effect, while others use lights to illuminate interpreters
indicating entrances. It has been found that readers can remain
alive to the reading and not be in the scene. This sense of alive-
ness can be achieved by the readers "listening" to the other readers.
This listening can be done by the readers as they maintain locus as an
observer. Again, rehearsals will provide the time to work out these
technical and psychological problems of Readers Theatre.
The third problem confronting a director is one that can cause
considerable confusion unless handled tactfully. An audience may
have difficulty identifying with one reader who interprets more than
one part. "It is a mistake to assume too quickly that in a Readers
25 Theatre performance one interpreter can easily handle many parts."
B a c o n , Art of Interpretation. p. 315.
67
This change of character can possibly be accomplished with the same
techniques used to indicate entrances and exits for Readers Theatre.
In this way readers may turn their backs to the audience or drop their
heads to indicate they are no longer in the scene. On cue they will
turn back to the audience or lift their heads in the attitude of the next
character. At times the readers may alter their posture to indicate
a change of characters. Perhaps the best interpretative technique
is for the readers to put themselves into the attitudes of the different
characters, and develop a degree of emotional involvement. As they
become involved in the reactions of the different characters, the * #
interpreters will take on the attitude of the character which will result
in facial expression, bodily poise, and vocal characterization.
To summarize Readers Theatre, these facts have been asserted.
Readers Theatre represents the most popular style of group interpretation.
The medium proposes to locate the emotional and intellectual content
of an author's literary creation in the mind of the audience. This is
done through the aural appeal. The style of Readers Theatre was set
by the Laughton-Gregory productions and in most Readers Theatre
productions manuscripts are present. Lecterns and stools are generally
used. All types of material—novels, plays, short stories, diaries,
journals, and letters—have been adapted to Readers Theatre. A long j
work is usually cut to fulfill a time element, or a group of selections
are put together in a thematic program. Directors and interpretative
68
groups are permitted much flexibility of style and approach. Three
basic problems confront a director. Locus is usually directed off-
stage, but at times it may shift to an onstage focus. The audience
may have difficulty identifying with one reader who is required to
interpret several parts. Then the director must determine how the
exits and entrances of the characters will be achieved.
Chamber Theatre
Possibly Chamber Theatre poses the greatest difficulty for a
teacher-director who attempts to use this form of group interpretation
for the first time. The difficulty stems from the lack of published
material concerning Chamber Theatre. Those who have discussed the
style have singularly acknowledged Robert Breen as the creator of
Chamber Theatre. Charlotte Lee refers to an unpublished manuscript
by Breen, but as yet this manuscript has not been issued. Apparently
the only information Breen has published about Chamber Theatre is a
Course of Study prepared for the American Educational Theatrical
Association. (This discussion of Chamber Theatre relies extensively
on that Course of Study for its facts.) Also a person researching
material for Chamber Theatre finds that those who have written about
the subject have not made sufficient distinction between Readers
Theatre techniques and Chamber Theatre techniques. There has been
an obvious overlapping of techniques and program material. Coger and
69
White found this to be true as they collected information and scripts
26
for Readers Theatre Handbook. This problem will very likely con-
tinue until some writers specifically delineate these two modes of
group interpretation.
Observation and research have indicated six characteristic
features which identify a Chamber Theatre performance,
1. Chamber Theatre moves closer to conventional theatre
than Choric Interpretation or Readers Theatre.
2. The medium makes extensive use of staging devices and
alienation ef fec ts .
3. Scenes are purposely located onstage.
4. Interpreters do not carry scripts , but rely on-
memorization.
5. An author's point of view is carefully retained through
a narrator-reader.
6. The repertory for Chamber Theatre is narrative prose fiction.
Chamber Theatre has been described as "a group story telling
technique— an attempt to present narrative fiction as it is written 27
rather than the traditional play form." Wallace Bacon describes
26Letter received from Leslie Irene Coger# January 15, 1968. ;
27Barbara Boston, "Chamber Theatre— A New Approach to Literature," English High Lights. IXX (November-December, 1961), 2.
70
Chamber Theatre as "a method of staging prose fiction, retaining
the text of the story or novel being performed by locating the scenes
28
on s tage ." Citing from Breen's unpublished manuscript, Charlotte
Lee states: In Dr. Breen's words, 'The techniques of the
Chamber Theatre were devised to present the novel, or narrative fiction, on the stage so that the dramatic action would unfold with full and vivid immediacy as it does in a play, but at the same time allowing the sensibility of the narrator, or the central intelligence in the form of a character, so conditions our view of that action that we who listen and watch should receive a highly organized and unified impression of i t .29
Generalizing from these authorities, then, it is possible to
ascertain a reasonably acceptable definition of purpose for Chamber
Theatre. It is a method of presenting narrative fiction prose to an
. audience in such a way that the narrative element, author's point of
view, and dialogue are retained in the immediacy of the conventional
play. The only changes in the literature are those required by a time
limitation, the number of readers, and the stage fac i l i t ies .
* Breen identifies three advantages for Chamber Theatre.
1. |phamber Theatre may use] . . . al l the dramatic devices of a play . . . but a Chamber Theatre production has the advantage of dispensing with these devices for the reason that in a well written story the narrative description may surpass any scenery, properties, e t c . , that could be shown.
28Bacon, Art of Interpretation, p . 323.
29Lee, Oral Interpretation, p. 219.
71
2. {chamber Theatre) . . . has advantages over the presentation of a conventional play, for though one character may sometimes speak about himself in third person, reporting to the audience in presentational style what is in his own mind and heart, or he may speak to another character in indirect discourse, but with the emotional tone of direct discourse.
3. Though simultaneity of speech and action found in a play is also present in a Chamber Theatre production, the latter has the added advantage of telling the audience what the character is thinking or how he feels at the same time.
The definition of Chamber Theatre reveals i ts restrictive nature.
The novel or short story selected must meet the demands of any
literature adapted for group presentation. The nature of the material
itself should govern the presentational form. As in Choric Interpreta-
tion and Readers Theatre, material for Chamber Theatre should have
evocative qualities and it should have interesting characters caught up
in interesting and vital action. Stories with lengthy exposition and
description must be excluded from a Chamber Theatre treatment or
receive extensive cutting and rearrangement. Bacon offers a guideline
for selecting a novel or short story for Chamber Theatre that ought not to
be ignored.
On the whole Chamber Theatre works best with fiction in which the interaction between narrator and characters is strong, and in which the psychological interest is high.31
30Robert Breen, "Chamber Theatre," Suggestions for a Course of Study in Theatre Arts at the Secondary Level. American Educational Theatre Association, (n. p . , 1963), p . 50.
•^Bacon, Art of Interpretation, p . 320.
72
Chamber Theatre presents narrative fiction tp an audience in its
original form with only minor cuts and omissions to provide smooth-
ness of thought or to fulfill a time limitation. It may be necessary
to rearrange events, but the past tense narrative and the author's
point of view, style, and form are rigidly retained.
Breen feels there are two ways of telling a story. One is
through narrative fiction and the other is through the dramatic form of
a play or poem. According to Breen, Chamber Theatre takes advantage
of both. Dramatic literature, again referring to Breen's concepts, has
the advantage of making an event or events as, if they were occuring I
here-and-now, while narrative fiction has the advantage of explaining
32
the thinking of the characters. When adapting material for a Chamber
Theatre production these two ideas must be kept in mind. The central
intelligence of an author's attitude will be retained, while the
characters' action and dialogue are presented in the sense of immediacy
recognized in conventional plays.
When adapting a short story or a novel for a Chamber Theatre
production, narrative, expository, or descriptive passages are <?
assigned to the narrator-reader or to one of the characters as indirect
discourse. The narrator-reader is a service character of the author.
This interpreter provides the means for retaining the author's point of •
view and perspective of the story. Breen identified four possible
32class notes,of Mrs. Doris Simpson.
73
points of view from which a story can be told. (1) A story can be
told in first person by a major character who narrates his own story.
(2) The action of the major character can be reported in the first
person by a minor character. (3) Action may be told in the third
person by an omniscient observer who reports what the characters
think and feel . (4) The objective observer relates the action of the
characters from a distance and can only speculate about character
33
motivation.
Adapting a selection to a Chamber Theatre performance
demand.s that the adapter use selective judgment. The question of who is to say what in Chamber
Theatre is a question requiring a cautious, delicate answer. It is no simple matter of parceling out lines so that each character will get approximately an equal number. (There is no question about direct discourse; it is the passages in indirect discourse that require considerations).
An adaption of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson will illustrate
how one story was adapted to Chamber Theatre. The author's point
of view in this story is that of a disinterested observer reporting only
external events. The internal psychology of characters is not
developed. Internal reactions and feelings are revealed only through
externalized reaction among the characters. In this adaptation the
performance used two narrators. The first narrator commented and
33Breen, "Chamber Theatre," p. 52.
34Bacon. Art of Interpretation, p. 323.
74
presented exposition of past events. His interpretation was external,
casual, and completely uninvolved with the plight of the characters.
The second narrator was more involved in the story as he presented
narration of present events. His reactions were akin to those of the
characters in the story. The bodily attitude of the narrators attempted
to present these viewpoints. The narrators were placed at opposite
sides of the stage. Both narrators carried scripts. At times they
held the scripts in their hands, other times they placed them on
lecterns. The first narrator focused his eye contact out to the audience
with only casual and disinterested glances at the characters and their
situation. By leaning on his lectern, this narrator's posture was
able to convey his complete detachment from the characters. The
second narrator, however, focused his eye contact on the characters
and their situation. He identified with their dilemma. When this
narrator did read to the audience, it was in such a way to draw the
audience into the scene and to create a sense of involvement and
sympathy for and with the characters. Characters within the story
spoke dialogue and at times vocalized their bodily actions and thought.
At one place one of the characters broke scene and walked down stage
to speak directly to the audience. On occasion, there were lines f
which were spoken in choric fashion.
Staging in Chamber Theatre develops a higher degree of
literalness than Readers Theatre or Choric Interpretation. In doing
75
this it tends to make fuller use of the conventions of a theatrical
performance. Costumes, set pieces, background, and makeup
are used, but a director must "still try to keep these elements to
35
a minimum." Because Chamber Theatre must not be regarded as a
dramatization, the aesthetic sensitivity and imagination of the
director will be called upon to determine the fine line of demarcation
between a degree of literalness and dramatization.
in the adaption of "The Lottery," for example, the script
called for an abstract background to represent the outlines of houses
and buildings. A banner with the word "lottery" was placed in the
up stage area. The characters' costumes were to represent a rural,
unsophisticated people. Character makeup was not suitable in the
performance because interpreters were required to read more than one
part. Two set pieces, a small black box and a stool, were used.
These pieces were decided upon because the black box is an important
motif within the story. The stool was a utility piece to set the box
on. Although there were other essential motifs, as the slips of paper
drawn from the box or the stones used for the killing, it was decided
to omit them because they were too literal. |jn Chamber TheatrgJ . . . characters move freely
about the acting area. Their circle of concentration shifts from the scene created around them in direct discourse, during which they speak directly to each other and 'play' together, to the audience area for much of the indirect discourse. Thus the dramatic devices of plot, character
3 5 l b id . . p . 319.
7 6
action, dialogue, and climax unfold with full and
vivid immediacy.36
In the adaptation of "The Lottery" referred to previously,
these principles were observed, but the stage movement and
gestures were restricted by a stylized presentation. This sense
of stylization was decided upon because there is within this story
a feeling of communal action. The stylized movement offered a
means -for building to a climax that might not have been obtained in
any other manner. At the beginning of the production characters are
permitted a degree of individual movement, but as the scene shifted
away from the many characters and began to focus on one individual,
the element of unified action among the townspeople became more
prominent. The communal reaction builds to the climax with the
l ine, " . . . then they were upon her. " At this point the entire
group surrounded the central figure, and the interpreters' synchronized
movement pantomimed the throwing of stones.
Bacon alerts the director of a Chamber Theatre production to
one of two problems that exists in this mode of group interpretation.
He states that staging aspects used in a Chamber Theatre presentation
must be carefully handled or the production "tends to violate the 37
temporal mode of fiction by making the scenes two vividly presented.
36Lee, Oral Interpretation, p. 219.
37Baconf Art of Interpretation, p. 320,
77
The delicate balance between interpretation and dramatization
must be maintained. To compensate this "too vivid" presenta-
tion a teacher-director must use selectivity in deciding on the
appropriate interpretative devices. Also the teacher-director must
seek to develop a thorough understanding of the narrator's role in
Chamber Theatre. The "heart of Chamber Theatre . . . is the
careful, intelligent use of the narrator through whom the author con-38
trols point of view.
A second problem that must be recognized in a Chamber
Theatre production is related to the first one. The interpreters
must retain the author's point of view in the immediacy context of
the performance. This can be accomplished by a technique Breen
labels as "strain" in Chamber Theatre. To create this strain,
characters may speak aloud thoughts addressed to and about them-
selves. At times the interpreters may speak directly to the audience. *
Other times they speak to the narrator. As the interpreters comment,
move, and react among themselves, they are controlled and guided
by the author's point of view and perspective which is maintained
by the narrator-reader. The narrator also serves as a fulcrum between
direct and indirect discourse and for shifting locus on and offstage.
To summarize Chamber Theatre, it is a mode of group inter-
pretation that seeks to present non-dramatic prose fiction to an
38Lee, Oral Interpretation, p. 219.
7 8
audience with the immediate here-and-now of conventional theatre.
Material selected for Chamber Theatre is adapted with minimum
cuts, and the author's point of view is rigidly observed. In this
form of group interpretation, there is a high degree of literal staging
and bodily action among the characters. The key figure in a Chamber
Theatre production is the narrator who maintains the sense of inter-
pretation and who controls and presents the author's point of view.
Directors of Chamber Theatre will need to maintain proper balance
between the sense of interpretation and dramatization. Also they i
will need to retain the author's viewpoint in the element of immediacy
that pervades a Chamber Theatre production.
CHAPTER V
EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES AND PROCEDURES
Educational Advantages
As Wallace Bacon suggests, "the single reader i s , and
doubtless will remain the center of training in courses of 1
Interpretation." Some educators might question the educational
validity of an activity that apparently duplicates other course work.
Contrary to the proponents of verse-speaking and many of the early
exponents of Readers Theatre, a group interpretation production is
time consuming, and a well-rehearsed program will consume as much
time as a full-length dramatic production. In addition, it may appear
inconsistent in an academic field which proposes to develop
individuality to require individuals to surrender their individuality for
the benefit of a group. Therefore, it is necessary in this chapter to
discuss some of the educational aims, values, and procedures for a
group interpretation production which will justify its inclusion in the
speech arts curriculum.
A teacher who attempts to employ a group performance, either as
a part of the regular classroom activity or as a co-curricular activity must
1 Wallace Bacon, The Art of Interpretation (New York. 1966), p. 306.
79
80
avoid the pitfalls that engulfed the elocutionists and the verse-
speaking choirs . Giles Gray asse r t s that the demise of elocution
was not the result of i t s theory being inherently wrong, nor was it
the teachers and speakers who based their principles on those
theories . The demise came because elocutionists divorced it from 2
"content and lost al l contact with the other canons or rhetor ic ."
Proponents of verse-speaking followed the same course . While
deploring the mechanical and exhibitionistic techniques of elocution,
choric reading remained ineffectual because i t resolved into art if icial
and mechanical displays of synchronized voices , rhythmically 3
inflected on monotonously overused exe rc i ses . While some pro-
ponents of verse-speaking extolled i ts virtues as a quick programing
device, others viewed i t a s a panacea for teaching literary apprecia-
tion and vocal sk i l l s . Even some of the early journal ar t icles dealing
with Readers Theatre express i ts value a s a substi tute for conventional
theatrical performances.
As conceived in this t hes i s , group interpretation performances
will not supplant solo performances; nor are they a panacea for teach-
ing speech ski l ls ; nor are they a substi tute for conventional theatrical
productions. A group performance i s only one means for presenting a
2Giles Wilkerson Gray, "What was Elocution," Quarterly Tournal of Speech, XLVI (February, 1960), 6.
3 c . C . Cunningham, Making Words Come Alive (Dubuque, Iowa, 1951), p . 186,
81
literary selection to an audience in an interesting and entertaining
manner. Any decision to employ a group performance in a speech
arts curriculum must be determined by three educational criteria.
First, there must be time available in the established speech
activity program. Second, a production must meet a teacher 's own
educational objectives. Third, the group activity must fulfill the
life needs of the students. It i s , therefore, necessary to discuss
in this chapter the manner in which a group interpretation performance
will fulfill these three stated requirements.
Available Time
Most speech teachers at the secondary level do not have the
time adequately to undertake any additional act ivi t ies . The crowded
speech arts program in most high schools with i ts diverse and complex
structure including speech sciences , public speaking, oral interpreta-
tion, and dramatics, and the related forensic and dramatic
co-curricular act ivi t ies , makes this first requirement singularly
important. If group interpretation is to be educationally sound, i t must
fit into the framework of the existing courses of study. Not only must
the teacher be considered, but the students' time must be considered
a l so . The interpreters must have time to fulfill the requirements of a
rehearsal schedule.
82
According to Zelda Horner Kosh, any speech training serves
three general purposes. (1) It provides opportunities for students
to improve their, speech ski l l s . (2) It provides specialized speech
training and enrichment for the talented students,, (3) It provides
4
remedial speech work for all s tudents. There are several possibili t ies
for satisfying these three purposes in a group interpretation performance.-
One possibility is to use a group production as a co-curricular interpreta-
tion workshop. Such a workshop, if held early in the school year, or
as a summer workshop, would provide early preparation and involvement
for the speech-dramatic talented students or the forensic squad. Con-
ceived within the framework of an organized interpretation class or a
speech fundamentals c l a s s , group interpretation can serve as an indirect
remedial speech training and re-enforcement activity. Obviously there
are times when a teacher would desire to include a group activity a s a
group session in literary analysis and interpretative instruction.
Margaret Neilson suggests another possibil i ty. "Although Readers
Theatre is in the area of interpretation, i t will be obvious that i t affords 5
a valuable teaching tool for the theatre classroom." From these
4Zelda Horner Kosh, "Speech Education in the Arlington Public Schools / ' Speech Teacher, I (January, 1952), 56.
5Margaret Neilson, "Readers Theatre," Suggestions for a Course of Study in Theatre at the Secondary School Level. The American Educational Theatre Association (n. p . , 1966), p . 46.
83
suggestions, it is evident that a group interpretation performance has
educational value because it can be included into an existing
curriculum as an activity approach for studying interpretative skills
or as a unit in applied speech principles. As a supplementary
activity within the speech curriculum, a group production fulfi l ls
the time requirements.
Teacher Objectives
The second criteria stated concerning a teacher 's decision to
employ a group production in the speech curriculum was the teacher 's
own educational goals . From observation, i t has been ascertained
that most interpretation teachers have the following general goals .
(1) Oral interpretation teachers seek to teach students skills that will
enable them to present an author's experience to an audience. (2) Oral
interpretation teachers will seek to develop acceptable speaking skills
within the students. (3) They seek to involve the non-talented speech
students in an artist ic performance. (4) They seek to expose many i
people to the best in world literature. (5) They seek to a s s i s t the
students to develop into mature and stable individuals.
Many students enter an interpretation c lass without having had an
opportunity to develop an appreciation of literature, and consequently
they lack the ability to communicate that literature to, others. For these
students, literary appreciation is associated with the prosaic "dissect -
a-poem" method of literary examination prevalent in many high school
84
literature and speech c lasses . Literary analysis becomes merely an
assignment to define words and locate the author's symbolism.
Literary criticism becomes an end to i tself , and students are left
wondering what value there is in having found an author's meaning
and metrical structure. Furthermore these novices often associate
interpretation with the dull, artless classroom recitations of a poem
or short story. At the other extreme many non-speech oriented
students associate reading and interpretation with the "notorious"
contest "dramatic interpretation" performances so aptly described by
Gertrude Johnson. "It is neither good reading nor vertible acting,
but which sets agape the half-educated with wonders of its aims and 6
attitudenizing; its pseudo-heroics and pseudo-pathos." Also, for
many students vocal drills and exercises have no importance except
that they are directed by a teacher. They become monotonous drills
of little value. The interpretation teacher must overcome these
adverse concepts and motivate students to see the importance of literary
analysis and technical drills. A group production can be an important <
instrument for the teacher of interpretation in accomplishing this need.
Although very little pedigogical testing or writing have been done
^Gertrude Johnson, "Education Through Reading and Declamation," Quarterly Journal of Speech, VI (February, 1920), 53.
85
in this area, close observation reveals that the "crude but effective 7
pressure of having an audience" has tremendous potential for
encouraging students to learn speaking skills while learning the
principles of literary criticism. Don Geiger further supports this
viewpoint, . . . preparation for performance requires the closest possible study of the piece i tself; because the student 's oral reading show him the value of making such analysis; because a public performance encourages responsible and pleasurable study; and because his readings carry the student 'beyond' analys is .^
Before a group can present a literary selection to an audience
both the performers and the director must have a thorough understand-
ing of the literature to be presented. When students know they are
responsible for presenting an author's literary experience to a
critical audience, they are motivated to delve into the piece of
literature more than if i t were a classroom assignment. In a group
performance most of the literary analysis is accomplished through an
indirect approach so that often students are not obviously aware they
are involved in a literary criticism activity. The approach made in a
group interpretation production is similar to that made in rhetorical
criticism and play analyses . Agnes Knox Black affirms the principle
that "technical training must go hand in hand with c lose , persistent
7 D o n Geiger, The Sound and Sense and Performance of Literature (Chicago. 1963), p . 17.
8 lbid . . p . 15.
it
86
9
and liberal study of noble literature." A group performance is a
means for implementing this principle, for while the students are
gaining impressions of an author's work, they are provided a means
for giving expression to that literature. Since group interpretation
emphasizes the aural' aspects of the literature, a group production
requires careful attention to vocal responses. The interpreters are
motivated to develop precise and intelligible vocal presentations. In
this atmosphere, vocal drills, and exercises become important to the
interpreter because they see an end purpose. In summary, it can be
said that a specific performance date and the idea of performing before
an audience provides a motivational stimulus which gives meaning to
literary criticism and for studying inflection, articulation, vocal
tempo, and phrasing. If the student is to be taught to extract meaning and
to ass is t in its communication, he will be most effectively motivated if he can be convinced that something of educational value is thereby accomplished. ^
Another aim for a teacher of oral interpretation is to involve a
great many people in a pleasurable experience with great literature.
Perhaps these people will not be as totally involved in a literary
selection presented by a reading group as were the audiences of
9Agnes Knox Black, "This Thing Called Dramatic," Studies in the Art of Interpretation, edited by Gertrude Johnson, (New York, 1S40), p. 30.
*
lOHubert Leigh Smith, "Objective Meaning and Dramatic Interpretation," Quarterly Journal of Speech, XXXVI (February, 1950), 40.
87
Vachel Lindsay who chanted and recited the refrains of the poet 's
work as he read his poetry. However, in a group interpretation
performance there i s , ideally, a sharing of literature. Angelo
Pelegrini asser ts that "when something is read aloud—and read
effectively—what is really happening is that many are reading a s 11
one." Applying this principle to a group activity, Leslie Irene Coger
describes Readers Theatre as "a medium in which two or more
interpreters orally reading from prepared scripts cause an audience to 12
experience l i terature." Not only does a group interpretation per-
formance permit the audience and readers to share a literary experi-
ence, but there is evidence that an audience responds more favorably
to a literary selection presented in a group interpretation than in a solo
reading. One of the few controlled experiments in this area was made
by Daniel Witt. From his investigation Witt drew this conclusion.
"Readers Theatre as a form of presentation of dramatic material brought
not significantly less intense response, than did acting in terms of 13
seriousness, ethical values and aesthetic va lues ."
llAngelino Pelegrini, "The Aims and Educational Content of Oral Reading," Quarterly Journal of Speech, XXII (December, 1937), 645.
l^Leslie Irene Coger, "Theatre for Oral Readers," Speech Teacher. XII (November, 1963), 322-.
l^Daniel Witt, "Audience Response to Acting, Readers Theatre, and Silent Reading for Realistic and Anti-Realistic Drama," Western Speech. XXX (Winter, 1966), 128.
88
Although no controlled experiments have been done in the
area of retention and literary experience, subjective observation
seems to indicate that when students have performed in a group
interpretation performance they have a more decisive grasp of the
literature used, and they retain that understanding to a greater
degree.
This principle has been demonstrated by a group of inter-
preters a t Sherman High School (1966) which presented a Choric
Interpretation of James Weldon Johnson's poetic sermons God's
Trombones. Many of these interpreters involved in this production
were able to recite lines and passages from this script two years
later . Some readers were even capable of reciting entire selections
from the adaptation. It was also observed that many of the students
were able to call upon their experiences in this production for
research papers and study helps in American Literature courses as
they studied poetry. A similar observation was macjle as two advanced
speech c lasses studied "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. These s tu-
dents were able freely to use and discuss such technical terms as
story motifs, author att i tude, and point of view.
It should be evident at this point that a group interpretation
performance has value because it meets the second educational criteria
s ta ted . A Choric Interpretation, Readers Theatre, or Chamber Theatre
production can a s s i s t a teacher of interpretation to meet specific
89
instructional goals, These performances are valuable because they
motivate students to analyze the literature in order to derive the
meaning of the selection and then develop.interpretative skills that
the readers can express the meaning to an audience. Furthermore,
not only do audiences favorably respond to the shared literature, but
interpreters more fully retain the literature presented. The objectives
relating to the shy, reticent student and the life needs of the students
are not discussed at this point because they are more directly related
to the third criteria to be discussed.
Student Needs
The third educational aim stated focuses on the needs of the
student. An oral interpretation teacher must never forget that as he
teaches subject matter, he i s a lso helping to mold and shape a
personality. The objectives set up for a course of study center on
life needs of the student. Various authorities have identified these
student needs in a variety of ways. Cecile DeBanks indicates that a
group interpretation performance has value because it meets certain
social , psychological, educational, and vocational needs of the
14
interpreters. Leslie Irene Coger identified basically the same needs.
She stated that a group reading "develops the performers psychologically,
l^Cecile DeBank, "Notes on the Verse Speaking Choir," Practical Method in Choral Speaking, edited by Marguerite DeWitt (Boston, 1936), p . 71.
90
15 emotionally, mentally, and social ly." A thesis of this sort cannot
fully discuss all of the ways a group production fulfil ls the students'
basic life needs . Certainly there has been very little investigation
into this area beyond superficial observations.
As a gregarious personality, the adolescent needs to have a
specific social identity. The high school student needs to be
identified with a special group of peers . A group interpretation per-
formance can fulfill this need as the individual interpreter works toward
a communal goal . Through this common effort a student finds that his
personal opinions and ideals are challenged and evaluated by others.
In turn the students learn to analyze and evaluate the reactions and
opinions of other students. Furthermore, a student develops a sense
of social loyalty and responsibility that is not available in solo per-
formances. Through a group interpretation performance the espirit 'de
corps becomes particularly strong, and students learn to share success
or failure.
Next, a group performance can meet certain psychological needs.
There is a sense of achieving in a well planned and produced group
interpretation experience. This sense of achievement i s particularly
important to the adolescent as he searches for self identity. This has
been dramatically illustrated among the shy and reticent students, who
have not performed well in solo performances. The case of Bobby H.
l^Coger, "Theatre for Readers," p . 323.
91
in Sherman High School's production of God's Trombones is an example.
Bobby was extremely shy and often avoided his classroom solo per-
formances. At his own volition, he tried out for the Choric
Interpretation performance. Bobby did not have an exceptional voice,
nor was i t a forceful voice. However, his voice contained a very soft#
resonant quality which was very good for the solo part of Christ in
"The Crucifixion." Bobby was assigned the part with some reserva-
t ions, but he became so involved with the part, that perhaps his
performance developed into the most emotionally moving experience of
the entire program. His f irst public performance was before an
audience of about four hundred people, and this experience proved
the key which began to break down Bobby's natural reticence and shy-
nes s . After this group experience, his solo performances were
always completed on time.
Another area is the educational need of the students. Students
can adjust their own philosophy and attitudes after those philosophies
and attitudes have come in contact with the ideas of many other
individuals. Through a group interpretation performance, a student
comes in contact with the ideas of various authors and with the ideas
and philosophies of the other performers. In the area of communicative
skills a student 's vocabulary is enriched, and he i s required to learn
correct pronunciation and articulation. It is imperative for a group of
readers to develop precise and intelligible voice techniques. The need
92
for precision increases proportionally to the number of voices combined
in an ensemble. Other education factors could be related but these
will suffice for illustration.
The students' emotional needs represent a fourth area that can
be met by a group interpretation performance. Although a speech
student is able to identify the emotional attitudes within a literary
selection, these students often are embarrassed to express those <?
emotional attitudes in a solo performance. When their individuality
is glossed within the group, students are more prone to give a selec-
tion its full emotional meaning. In this way a student is able to give
expression to his feelings without fear of ridicule or embarrassment.
It should be evident from the above discussion that a group interpreta-
tion performance does have certain values for meeting the individual
needs of the student.
In conclusion then, a group interpretation performance fulfills
the three educational criteria stated at the opening segment of this
chapter. (1) A group interpretation performance will fit into the
established speech program. (2) A group interpretation activity will
fulfill the instructional goals of a teacher of interpretation. (3) A
group interpretation performance will meet the life needs of the students.
Selecting Literature for Group Interpretation
Having established the value and desirability of a group
93
interpretation performance, i t is necessary to discuss the means for
implementing the various aspects of a group performance into the
speech arts curriculum. In producing a group production, a director
will observe two procedures. The preliminary procedure involves
selecting the material that will be interpreted. The second procedure
considers the actual preparation and rehearsal necessary for presenting
the literature to an audience.
The current philosophy that regards all literature as having
dramatic, or imitative, consistency might signify that all literature
can be used for a group interpretation vehicle. Although it has been
demonstrated that most any literary form can, and has , been used in
a group production, i t must not be assumed that every piece of literature
will satisfactorily adapt to a group presentation. It has been asserted
throughout this thesis that the first criterion for selecting any material
for a group production is the material i t se l f . The author's work of
art must benefit from the group treatment if i t is to be acceptable. The
production should offer the literature something that i t could not other-
wise obtain in a silent reading or a solo performance. From various
writers and through experimentation it has been realized that for group
interpretation, poetry with universal appeal and narrative implications
adapts more successfully than poetry with strong personalized implica-
t ions. Plays which rely on stage action and business for their impact
will adapt less readily than plays which depend primarily upon dialogue
94
for their impact. Narrative conversational prose adapts better to a
group performance than didactic expository or descriptive prose.
A second criterion that should be examined before a particu-
lar piece of literature is used is the interpreters' maturity and inter-
pretative skil ls . Grimes and Mattingly recognize the interpreters
own temperament and ability as one of two limitations on a performance.
W. M. Parrish makes a similar observation and recommends that in any
interpretation class the students should be started ''with the simple
17
then go on to the more complex and difficult." The implication here
is that the inexperienced group of interpreters should not attempt
complex or involved literature. This literature must stir the imagina-
tion of the readers, and it must be within their interpretative capacity.
A third criterion essential to the selection of appropriate
material is the audience. It has been stated that a production must
be accepted by the audience if it is effective. This implies that a
literary selection chosen for a group presentation will be influenced by
the audience's maturity and aesthetic tas tes . Often a teacher states
that a selection must be in taste . This taste is determined by the
audience, not the director or readers, so it is necessary for the
director and performers to carefully evaluate their community and
l^Wilma Grimes and Aletha Mattingly, Interpretation: Writer, Reader, Audience (San Francisco. 1951), p. 17.
17w. M. Parrish, "Interpretative Reading," Studies in the Art Interpretation, edited by Gertrude Johnson (New York, 1940), p. 60.
16
95
potential audiences. In a very thorough discussion of audience
responses , Jere Vielleux offers the following insight .
A group of very inverse individuals who have strong personal feel ings, prejudices, and opinions, who should disagree about almost everything, often will find them-selves , upon hearing a poem, play or story well inter-preted, in unanimous agreement not just about the quality of the interpretation but also about the value projected by the literature In effect their responses as an audience were primarily to their own feelings rather than to the interpreter or to the literature. They responded individually and subjectively to the universal and affirmative feeling which the skill of the author and interpreter had aroused in their own hearts .
A fourth criterion to be observed by anyone selecting material
for a group production is the occasion. Gertrude Johnson states that
questions of time of day, place of program and type of audience must
be considered in the programing (adapting) of literature for group
19
interpretation. In a scholastic atmosphere, most any of the standard
authors or pieces of literature will be acceptable. New works can be
tried out. However, outside this atmosphere the more artful and
dramatic programs would be out of place. At a men's civic club
luncheon, for example, a more entertaining or thematic approach would
seem more appropriate.
In order to determine more specific directions for selecting
literature to be used in a group production, two principles are
18jere' Vielleux, "The Interpreter: His Role, Language, and Audience," Speech Teacher (March, 1967), 131.
I9Gertrude Johnson, "Selection and Arrangement of Program Materials ," Studies in Interpretation, p . 197.
96
suggested. It must be understood that this phase of a group
production will be teacher-director oriented. This position seems
feasible because the teacher is best qualified for the responsibility
since he has a wider association with literature and has had greater
experience and knowledge of the techniques involved. First, con-
sideration should be given to all types of literature from all literary
20
history, not just a teacher 's personal preferences. For example
a director who continually selects only contemporary literature for
group interpretation and ignores the literature of the romantic era fai ls
in his purpose as a teacher of interpretation. Also, too often, solo
interpretation performances subsist on the literary selections found
in a speech textbook or what is popular on the forensic circuit . A
group production offers an opportunity to break this mold as the
teacher-director attempts to bring the best of world literature in contact
with the greatest number of people. A wide and varied selection of
material will potentially expand the literary horizons and knowledge 21
of the students participating.
There is a second specific principle that should be observed
by the director as he selects material for a group production. The
director should consider material that would not ordinarily be presented,
20c . H. Woolbert and Severina Nelson, The Art of Interpretative Speech (New York. 1958), p . 523.
21Wallace Bacon, "Scholarship and the Interpreter," Quarterly Journal of Speech, XXIV (April, 1953), 190.
97
or that might not be feasible to present in any other manner. There
is a vast repertory of great drama that comes within this category.
Through a group interpretation performance, programs adapted from
old radio scripts are possible. Also there are many selections
studied as a phase of literature courses which could be presented
and used in a team teaching situation between speech and English
departments. Children's stories, f a i r y t a l e s , f o l k t a l e s , myths,
and legends could be presented for elementary groups through Readers
Theatre or Chamber Theatre. Many of the avant garde authors and the
many new poets could be considered as sources for group interpreta-
tion. This discussion can only suggest sources for literature that i
might ordinarily be overlooked in the experiences of many high school
students. After the material has been selected, then the teacher-
director would decide on which mode of presentation would best suit
the literature.
To summarize this segment, four criteria have been presented.
First, the literature must be enhanced by any group treatment.
Second, the literature must be suitable to the maturity and interpreta-
tive skills of the interpreters. Third, the literature must be suitable
to the maturity and aesthetic tastes of the audience. Fourth, the
literature must be appropriate to the specific occasion that it will be
presented. Next, two guiding principles have been suggested.
First, a teacher-director should consider material from al l literary
98
periods so that the interpreters and audiences' literary experiences
will be heightened. Then a teacher-director should consider
material that might not or would not be feasible to present in any
other medium. In the light of this discussion, it can be concluded
that any decision to present a particular piece of literature in a group
interpretation production rests ultimately, not in the technique or
mode of presentation, but in the piece of literature. "Technique
22 must serve the material, not vice versa."
Rehearsal Procedures for Group Interpretation
Most oral interpretation textbooks include two major
divisions, techniques of literary analysis and techniques of
expression. Following this twofold division most interpretation
courses of study segment the art of oral interpretation into "Getting
the meaning from the printed page," and "Interpreting meaning from
the printed page." Activities in the first segment include study of
literary forms and composition, determining authors meaning, imagery,
values and style of writing. In the second unit, techniques of
expression are studied in detail, pitch, force, quality, e tc . Too often,
perhaps, students do not connect the activities as segments of a total
process.
Interpretation is a fusion of impression and expression of
literature. It is illogical to separate the two processes. An author's
22Karl Robinson and Charlotte Lee, Speech in Action (New York, 1965), p . 258.
99
work is concerned with life experiences, and a literary work
represents the author's responses and interpretation of those experi-
ences. Assuredly the author responded to these experiences as a
whole person, physically, psychologically, arid emotionally. As
interpreters, student readers react or respond to these experiences.
Communication of literature can only be accomplished when the
students have responded as a whole person, mentally, physically,
and emotionally. Two authorities bear out this conclusion. Geiger
s ta tes , " . . . the formed attitude of the poem becomes the oral
interpreter's own, only when he has had a total organic, emphatic
23 response to the poem." Grimes and Mattingly assert that "from both
philosophical and psychological points of view the body mirrors the
24
lip of the mind . . . the two cannot be separated." A student's
oral performance is a culminating response to the author's literary
experience. Furthermore, an author reveals nuances of meanings
and attitudes that cannot be expressed by words alone. These nuances
and attitudes can only be expressed by the inflected sound and tone,
or muscle tone and facial expressions.
A group interpretative performance provides a means for retain-
ing the two interpretative processes in a total learning experience.
23Don Geiger, "Pluralism in the Interpreter's Search for Scanctions," Quarterly TournaJ of Speech. XLI (February, 1955), 55,
24Grimes and Mattingly, Interpretation, p. 259.
100
During the rehearsal process, students express literature to gain an
impression. For instance, one day of rehearsal might emphasize
word study. As the interpreters are reading, a director can stop
the reading at the word or words he wishes the interpreters to under-
stand. Then he asks , "What does (X word) mean?" In this manner
students learn a word in the author's context. At another time rhyme
scheme or rhythm as it relates to tempo and phrasing might be
studied. There are times when kinesthetic studies will ass is t the
students to grasp the attitude or imagery of a selection. They
pantomime the sound of a word thus permitting a teacher to teach
gesture and bodily reaction while the interpreters "get the feel or
attitude" of sounds. The logic of this approach is supported by Don
Geiger. He states , "ordinarily the students improve most in both
textual understanding and expressive action when he works on text and
25
oral interpretation simultaneously."
No single approach will fit every form of literature. The
different styles, Chorlc Interpretation, Readers Theatre, and Chamber
Theatre, will alter the approach to be made in rehearsal. The
students' abilities and experiences will cause the procedure to vary.
Student-interpreters analyze and adapt a piece of literature for a per-
formance by discovery through rehearsal, as the teacher-director
indirectly guides that discovery process. Perhaps the most comprehensive
25Geiger, Sound, Sense, and Performance, p. 65.
101
approach to the ana lys i s , adaptation, and rehearsal of a group
production is suggested by C. C . Cunningham,
In the process of instruction of oral interpretation, the psychological procedure to be followed is this; f i r s t , attention will be given to certain aspec ts of the "total effect" achieved by the writer. Second, parts of the whole will be examined and recognized as guides to detailed techniques of interpretation. Third, the whole will then be reconstructed in terms of the techniques of the oral interpreter as they are guided and controlled by his now alert awareness to all that the writer has done 25
. with the parts as he has put together to make up the whole.
Before discussing this psychological approach, it is necessary to
digress and suggest some controlling factors concerning the rehearsal
procedures for a group interpretation production. First i t has been
observed that a group interpretation performance must have one
person who is responsible for the total e f fec t . This i s usually the
teacher although an advanced student could act a s a director. Who-
ever i t i s , the director must make final production dec i s ions . The
success of any group activity depends on the judicial guidance of a
director. While acting as a controlling force within a production,
a director must allow for the interpreters ' in i t ia t ive. The rehearsal
period is a time for the group to try out various presentation
techniques, so no technique or script adaptation should become so
rigid that the group could not develop an interpretation. To accomplish
this goal , a teacher-director will use an indirect approach to the
performance. The author 's meaning and methods for expressing those
26Cunningham, Making Words Come Alive, p. 5 .
102
meanings should be "discovered" by the students. The teacher-
director guides the interpretation with suggestions and leading
questions. Since a director is responsible for the total interpreta-
tion effect, the teacher-director must know when to permit free
expression and experimentation, and when to make the final produc-
tion decisions. From observation it can be asserted that there is a
possibility for a director to over-direct a group interpretation produc-
tion. Through practice a teacher-director can learn the correct
process of stimulation without dictating.
A second factor governing the preparation period is the matter
of a rehearsal schedule. A rehearsal schedule should be set up and
followed. This schedule should set up deadlines for obtaining
specific objectives at each rehearsal period. It should be geared to
lead progressively to the final performance date. A teacher-director
may not desire to give a rehearsal schedule to the student-interpreters,
but the schedule should certainly be a reality for th§ director.
A third factor to be considered about the rehearsal period con-
cerns the orientation process. Observation has revealed that students
who are participating in a group interpretation for the first time must
undergo a period of theoretical orientation. Simple exercises and
selections should be employed to acquaint the uninitiated students with
the vocabulary, style, and techniques involved in a Choric Interpreta-
tion, Readers Theatre, or Chamber Theatre production. This
103
orientation period permits the students to develop an understanding
of the objectives and techniques of a particular interpretation
medium. This orientation period falls within Cunningham's first
phase of the psychology process.
To return to this psychology approach as it applies to a group
interpretation performance, the rehearsal period is divided into three
phases. Each one overlaps the other two. In the first phase
student-interpreters are exposed to the literature selected for the
performance. In the second phase, the actual preparation is
accomplished. The literature is examined and the interpretative
techniques are tried out. In the third phase the group of interpreters
concentrate on the proper total effect. The succeeding discussion
offers some suggested general procedures that may be observed in the
rehearsal period.
During the first phase of the rehearsal period, the interpreters
receive their initial exposure to the literature to be presented. At the
first reading, the material should be read for the interpreters own enjoy-
ment and appreciation and to gain their initial reaction to an author's
ideas. This reading should be presented with little comment. The
teacher-director will need to decide what means will best bring about
this appreciation and enjoyment. The teacher might read the material,
or several experienced student readers might be employed. Possibly
a recording of the literature might be best . At times a teacher may
104
desire to combine this first reading with a tryout session. During
this first phase the individual parts are assigned and the general
outline of the program is decided upon.
In the second phase of the rehearsal period, attention is given
to developing an understanding of the literature and deciding on the
specific interpretation technique to be employed. It is during this
phase of rehearsal that the group will make a thorough investigation
of the material. The literary analysis should be motivated by the
interpretation techniques, and a director will need to include time for
this analysis within the rehearsal schedule. This second phase is
also the time to experiment with various interpretative methods.
Appropriate locus must be established. Staging devices and physical
arrangements must be decided upon. Bodily movement, if used, must
be blocked and rehearsed. Careful attention must be given to vocali-
zation, precision, and intonation in order to achieve the proper
effect. The director and interpreters must work together to develop
an artistic balance between the aural and visual aspects of the inter-
pretation. The subtle qualities of the material hnust receive careful
attention through a sense of natural and spontaneous communication.
In most cases an author took painstaking care over several
weeks or months to "create a short story, novel, or poem, and it is
irrational for a director to assume that a group of interpreters can recreate
that literature in one or two practice sessions. Where the first phase
105
of rehearsals might be accomplished in one or two sessions, the second
phase will require as much time as ten to fifteen rehearsal hours for
a thirty minute interpretation program.
The third phase of rehearsal seeks to create the total effect.
During this phase the parts are put together and polished for the
performance date. Set pieces are constructed and arranged for. Final
decisions on dress are made. Lighting effects and sound effects are
completed and rehearsed. This i s not to infer that a group waits until
the last week of rehearsals to begin working on these staging aspects .
The general outlines and suggestions have probably been written into
the script, and committees have been working on them as the group
has been rehearsing. It does mean that during the third phase, stag-
ing procedures and oral presentation are finalized and rehearsed to the
fine peak of perfection for the performance. This last phase will vary,
but usually it covers the last five or six rehearsal sessions,
Summary
In this chapter there has been an attempt to consider some of the
production procedures for a group interpretation performance. Group
interpretation, while making definite contributions to the students'
total development and while supplementing the other speech arts , is
a time consuming activity that seemingly duplicates other speech
activities. Any teacher of interpretation must decide if there is time
106
within the existing course of studies to justify the complexities of a
group interpretation program. Also, the teacher must examine his
own educational aims to determine if a group performance will
accomplish those objectives. Examined carefully, a group inter-
pretation program provides an enrichment activity for the talented
speech students, while engaging other students in an enjoyable
literary and interpretative experience. It becomes a motivational
instrument for teaching technical literary criticism and speech skil ls .
This educational process takes place within a specific
developmental arrangement. First the material is selected on the
basis of the interpreters' maturity and skill, and the audiences'
aesthetic taste and maturity. Also the specific occasion must be con-
sidered, but, foremost, the decision to use a particular piece of
literature in a group performance rests within the literature i tself . The
author's experience must be enhanced by the treatment. All types and
forms of literature should be considered for selection, and only after
the material has been selected will a director decide upon the method
of interpretation.
Once the literature has been selected, it must be carefully
rehearsed for presentation. The director acts as a controlling force
who guides the interpretative process. Definite rehearsal goals and
deadlines give the production progressive direction. Finally the
rehearsal period is arranged into three phases. The first phase
107
introduces the novice interpreters to the theory and techniques of
group interpretation, and the interpreters gain their initial reaction
to the literature to be presented. The second phase breaks the
production into particular interpretative techniques. The inter-
preters analyze the literature while they work on presentational
techniques as locus, staging, dress, vocalization, or artistic
communication. The last phase of rehearsals considers the entire
interpretative approach in order to polish the performance for presenta-
tion to a live audience.
CHAPTER VI
EVALUATING THE GROUP INTERPRETATION PERFORMANCE
Perhaps the most exciting phase of group interpretation is the
many possible performance techniques permitted by the three modes of
group readings. The interpreter "is largely free to adapt such methods
as will carry his meaning most effectively." This freedom/ of course,
must be done purposely and tastefully. A comparison of three Readers
Theatre productions of Tohi? Brown's Body will serve to illustrate the
varied possibilities for a group production. Performance A is a descrip-
tion of the Charles Laughton production. Performance B was presented
at Southeastern State College, Durant, Oklahoma, during the Summer
Semester of 1966. Performance C was presented at Grayson County
Junior College, Denison, Texas, during the Spring Semester of 1967.
Performance A used three professional actors, two men and one
woman, a choral group, and two dancers. Stage pieces included two
chairs, a bench, a "red-topped balustrade," and chairs for the choral
group. The cast was dressed in formal evening wear. The three
readers moved freely about the stage, unrestrained by manuscripts.
They kneeled, sat , or stood as the script required. Lights faded in
IChloe Armstrong and Paul Brandes, The Oral Interpretation of Literature (New York, 1963), p. 18..
108
109
and out to localize scenes. The actors were "vitally in a scene"
2
during the performance.
Performance B was presented on an open stage with four
student performers, two men and two women. The interpreters sat
on stools and "read" from manuscripts placed on lecterns. A choral
group sat on a two-level riser positioned at upstage lef t . The dancers
were omitted. General lighting was used throughout the performance,
and no attempt was made to shift scenes. The readers and choir wore
formal evening dress. Focus was offstage, and the four interpreters'
movements were restricted to the immediate area about the stools.
They either sat or stood. However, during the Robert E. Lee episode,
one male reader moved away from his stool and crossed to the right
downstage area to create psychological distance.
Performance C was presented on a large proscenium stage.
Stage pieces consisted of a raised platform enclosed by a railing at
stage right. Two sets of risers gave access to the platform area.
Across the upstage area, white flats of contrasting widths were placed
judiciously to provide exits on and off stage. At times two stools were
brought on stage and placed in front of the platform. Four inter-
preters, two men and two women, were used in this production. A
choral group was seated at stage lef t , enclosed by a low railing.
2John Mason Brown, "Marching On" Laughton's Presentation of John Brown's Body. Saturday Review. XXXVI (March 14, 1953), 36ff.
110
The four readers were dressed in formal evening dress. The women
wore dresses of matching design, one white and one black. The
men in the choral group wore black trousers, white shirts, and black
t ies . The women in the chorus wore similar costumes, black skirts,
white blouses, and black ribbons about their necks. The interpreters
read without manuscripts and made offstage entrances and exits on
cue. Focus was to the audience. At times the readers spoke from
the platform; at other times they stood downstage; and at other times
they sat on stools placed immediately downstage of the platform.
Extensive lighting effects were used to localize scenes and for
atmospheric effects . The chorus remained in semi-shadow throughout
the performance.
It would be difficult to determine which performance, A, B, or
C, was the most effective. There are too many variables in an
artistic performance for a critic to determine absolute measurements.
Each interpretive performance is characterized by its own literary idiom.
Each interpretative approach has its own purpose. Any artistic
performance is transitory, and therefore, effectiveness is difficult to
determine since there is nothing with which to make comparison. One
can generalize by saying that effective interpretation is sharing a
literary experience with an audience, and that the group has not shared
that experience unless the audience has accepted i t . Stating the same
principle another way, "when a listener becomes involved in a literary
I l l
experience as the reader intended him to become involved, the
3
communicative act has been effective." The very nature and
presence of an audience excludes a group interpretation performance
from any comparative judgment. An audience being composed of
individuals with many different levels of maturity, psychology,
and aesthetic tastes cannot be controlled, yet an audience
ultimately determines the effectiveness of any interpretation
production.
In an educational atmosphere, however, there must be some
attempt to measure the effectiveness of an interpretation performance.
W. B. Chamberlain and S. H. Clark assert that criticism of any 4
production is the final test of an artistic performance. The eclectic
nature'of Choric Interpretation, Readers Theatre, and Chamber
Theatre makes this doubly important. It is not enough to merely say
that a group interpretation production will meet certain needs or obtain
certain educational objectives. A teacher needs some measuring
device for meeting those needs and obtaining those objectives.
Specifically in an educational activity, a teacher-director must have
some way for gauging student progress. Since there are none avail-
able, it is the purpose of this chapter to attempt to foster specific
3Keith Brooks, Eugene Bahn, and L. LaMont Okey, The Communicative Act of Oral Interpretation (Boston. 1967), p . 401 „
4W. B. Chamberlain and S. H. Clark, "Criticism," Studies in the Art of Interpretation, edited by Gertrude Johnson (New York, 1940), p . 229*
112
evaluation procedures and critique sheets for a group interpretation
performance.
If a critic is to arrive at a fair and objective judgment con-
cerning a group interpretation performance, he must have an under-
standing of the performance objectives and a knowledge of the
5
elements which make these objectives possible. In either a Choric
Interpretation, Readers Theatre, or Chamber Theatre production, an
evaluation must be made concerning the production in terms of the
literature's purpose and style. To accomplish this a critic will need to
know much about all literature and to know something specifically about
the literature being performed. Since, in most cases , the introduction
element, which is expected with a solo interpretation, is omitted from
the group performance, critics will need to listen more effectively to
grasp the purpose and intent of the author, while the interpreters will
need to be certain that they make this purpose and intent evident in the
production. Perhaps a critic will be required to gain access to the
script or literary work in order to fully understand the production
techniques used. Choric Interpretation techniques cannot be evaluated
with the same attitude as a Readers Theatre performance. In like
manner, Readers Theatre and Chamber Theatre performances vary greatly
in presentation styles. Evaluation, then, requires that critics have
an understanding of the media, performance style, and the purpose of
^Gertrude Johnson, "Extemporaneous Reading Contests and Methods of Judging Them," Ibid. . p. 207.
113
the literature being interpreted.
A second requirement for a fair and objective evaluation
requires that the judge develop good aesthetic t as tes . W. M.
Parrish states that there are "greater temptations to excesses ,
vagaries, and vulgarities" in the field of public speech than in
6 other fields of endeavor. Unfortunately there are no ready answers
7 for determining aesthetic tas te . Gail Boardman makes this comment:
Taste is the keystone of art . It embraces good judgment, naturalness, and simplicity. It prohibits exaggeration of any kind—in voice, manner, move-ment, and so forth. The interpreter must be sincere in order to gain sincere and genuine response. Repression is better than over doing.®
This ideal may serve to guide a critic in judging a group performance.
The artful and "gimmicked" production for the sake of avant garde or
the shock treatment approach to literature are out of place and
represent a lack of taste in the educational medium.
A third factor for an effective evaluation is sincerity on the part
of the critic. Underlying any evaluation in the educational context
should be the element of constructive judgments. The speech arts
curriculum exists for permitting a student to develop creative initiative
and better communication techniques. Before performers can, or will
6w. M. Parrish, "Concerning Taste," Ibid. • p. 207.
7lbid. , p . 204.
^Gail Boardman, Oral Communication of Literature (New York, 1952), p . 30.
114
accept, the judgment of a critic, the critic must establish his
sincerity for assisting those performers to improve their techniques
and understanding. To provide a fair and beneficial evaluation,
then, a critic must know something about the literature being per-
formed and the style of performance; a critic must make his evalua-
tions based on good taste in a performance; and his judgment must
be determined by his sincerity to aid student interpreters to perform
better.
There are two general types of evaluation. The first type is a
general effectiveness evaluation. This type is based on the general
response of a single critic, or the audience, to the material and
performance. This is a subjective approach which is based on the
"likes" or "dislikes" of the spectators. This method, though
obviously not a scientific or technical approach, is important because
9
one "critic cannot speak for the total listener responses." In this
form of evaluation listeners respond in a general way to items as the
appropriateness of material and adaptation, the appropriateness of
staging devices, the appropriateness of vocalization and physical
response, and the over all effectiveness of the production.
Whereas the effect criterion is an expression of the popular
approval or disapproval of a performance and does not have exact or
scientifically determined judgments concerning the merits of the work,
^Brooks, Bahn, and Okey, Act of Interpretation, p. 403.
115
the technique criterion is based on specific judgments from which
10
personal taste and feeling have been largely eliminated. The
technique criterion is based on specific predetermined criteria. For
instance, a critic is asked to determine the degree of effectiveness
for such items as vocal techniques, use of gestures and physical
responses, lighting effects, or unity and coherence of a script. It
is imperative for the critic to "respond to each of the items in terms
of the literature being read, keeping in mind that what is appropriate
in one piece of literature is not necessarily appropriate in another
111
selection.
Thus far, this chapter has discussed the need for evaluative
criteria for a group interpretation performance, the qualities of a
critic, and the types of evaluation. Before actually preparing a
critique form for group interpretation, it was necessary to determine
some standards or objectives for an evaluation sheet. Brooks, Bahn,
and Okey state the first standard. "Regardless of the scale or check-12
l ist it must be usable." Second, rating sheets should have a
definite purpose. Third, they should seek explicit responses.
Fourth, critique sheets should be adapted to the performance and the
interpreters. t
Chamberlain and Clark, "Criticism," p . 229.
llBrooks, Bahn, and Okey, Act of Interpretation, p. 405.
12ibid., p . 412.
116
Critique sheets unfortunately have the position of being final
arbitrators for standards of expression. It is not within the scope or
purpose of rating sheets to erect absolute mechanical standards of
expression. The elements included for evaluation are to be adapted
to the individual performance and "always to be modified by personal
properties as temperament, tas tes , and also by special circumstances,
as relations of speaker and audience, occasion, and especially by the
13
purpose in the utterance." With this principle in mind three critique
forms are suggested and are included at the end of this chapter. Each
one is prepared for a specific purpose, but each one attempts to include
items for evaluating as (1) the selecting and adapting the literature to a
group performance, (2) the manner and techniques of presentation, and
(3) the over all effectiveness of the group interpretation performance.
These critique sheets have been modeled after the principles set forth
by Gertrude Johnson in an article "Dramatic Reading and Platform Art
14
Critique." Also, Brooks, Bahn, and Okey's book has solidified the
organizational form.
The first form (page 119 ) is a general effectiveness rating
scale . Points are evaluated on a given continuum. This form proposes
to elicit a general response from observers without specific criteria. It
^Chamberlain and Clark, "Criticism," p. 23.
l^Gertrude Johnson, " Dramatic Reading and Platform Art Critique," Studies in Interpretation, p. 219-222.
117
seeks to evaluate a group interpretation performance based on "the under-
15
standing and appreciation of the literary experience communicated.
The second critique form (page 120 ) is concerned with more
specific criteria aimed at determining the appropriateness or effectiveness
of the methods used to present the literature to an audience. It
requires an observation report based on a variety of factors. It i s felt
that this form should be used by individuals who have some knowledge
of the speech ar ts .
The third form (page 122 ) is a special form which seeks to
evaluate the performance of an individual interpreter. As the preced-
ing critique form, this evaluation sheet requires specific responses to
several interpretation factors. Possibly this form would provide a
teacher-director with a rating scale that attempts to measure progress
and achievement.
Summary
Criticism serves as a final step in the interpretative experience.
Some criteria for a group interpretation performance is needed in order
to determine the effectiveness of a production while measuring achieve-
ment and effectiveness of aims and techniques. For a critique to be
valid, a judge must know and understand both the techniques involved
in a particular performance and the literature being presented. The
crit ic 's own good tas te , sincerity, and knowledge of judicial standards
15Brooks, Bahn, and Okey, Act of Interpretation, p . 403.
118
will ass is t him in making the critique fair and objective. Evaluation
criterion are classified into two categories. The first is a
subjective response to the material and the performers which results
in a general effectiveness evaluation. The second criterion is based
on more technical and specific performance criteria. This criterion
attempts to evaluate the degree of effectiveness. Any'evaluation
sheet used should be practical and should have a specific purpose.
Responses to the criteria on a rating scale should be adapted to the
particular performance and the group of interpreters.
119
GENERAL EFFECTIVENESS RATING SCALE FOR GROUP INTERPRETATION
Title of selection: Name of director: Type of interpretation:
Choric Interpretation Type of program:
1. The program was
Readers Theatre Single work ___
Chamber Theatre, Thematic
2. The purpose of the production was
3. The literature
4. The theme and the purpose of the literature was
5. Vocal and physical interpretation was
6. Voices were
7. Staging devices
8. Total performance was
Comments:
boring enjoyable very enjoyable
vague evident
lost meaning was unaffected was enhanced
missing vague evident
forced and artificial lifeless animated spontaneous and natural
cluttered unintelligible intelligible distinct
hindered inter-pretation could have been omitted assisted inter-pretation
not effective effective very effective
Critic
120
GROUP INTERPRETATION PERFORMANCE CRITIQUE SHEET
Name of selection: Name of director : Type of interpretation:
Choricp Interpretation Type of program:
SELECTION OF MATERIAL I
Choice d>f material: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Readers Theatre Chamber Theatre Single work Thematic
Was it appropriate to readers' maturity and ability? Was it appropriate to audience's aesthetic taste and maturity? Wa^ it appropriate to the occasion? Did the material have sufficient worth to justify the time necessary to rehearse and present the program?
Adapting the material: 1. Did the script have unity? 2. Were the transitions smooth and purposeful? 3. Did the transitions provide the script with necessary coherence? 4. Wasj the purpose and intent of the literature retained? 5. Wa$ the reading balanced among the readers?
INTERPRETATION OF MATERIAL
Vocal responses: 1. Did voices have clarity, precision, and distinctness? 2. Did voices have projection, force, and volume? 3. Did voices have appropriate quality and characterization? 4. Did voices have appropriate emotional intensity? 5. Did individuals pick up cues with proper pacing and timing? 6. Did voices have a sense of spontaneity and naturalness? 7. Wheln group spoke in ensemble, were voices synchronized?
Physical responses: 1. Wer^ gestures and physical movement meaningful? 2. Was physical responsiveness kept in realm of suggestion? 3. Did readers react,through facial expression and muscle tone? 4. Did (gestures and physical action seem spontaneous and
natural?
121
(Continued)
Staging devices;
1. Were set pieces situated for best psychological effect? ;
2. Was reader placement aesthetically balanced? 3. Did clothing contribute to the interpretation? 4 . Was there proper illumination? 5. Was proper atmosphere maintained by lighting? 6. Were sound effects beneficial? 7. Was locus properly established? 8. Was onstage and offstage focus appropriate? 9 . Were "entrances" and "exits" handled efficiently?
10. Was the degree of suggestion or l i teralness appropriate to the performance ?
GENERAL EFFECTIVENESS
1. Did the literature benefit by the production? 2. Was the presentation appropriate to the material? 3. Was the performance entertaining and interesting? 4. Did the group work together in ensemble? 5. Were readers emotionally and intellectually alive to the
material? 6. Did the production have purpose and meaning? 7. Was the mood, purpose, and content of the literature evident? 8. Did the production have adequate climatic tension and relief? 9. Did the performance have the illusion of "first time? "
10. Did the readers seem to react emphatically to the literature?
COMMENTS:
Critic
122
INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETER PERFORMANCE CRITIQUE
Name of interpreter: Name of selection : Type of interpretation:
Choric Interpretation Readers Theatre Chamber Theatre Type of selection: Single work Thematic
ATTITUDES AND PREPARATION 1. Was prompt for all rehearsals 2. Attended rehearsals regularly I 3. Took direction and criticism cheerfully | 4. Used direction and criticism to improve interpretation 5. Met assigned line and production deadlines 6. Respected suggestions and comments of other interpreters 7. Worked to create an artistic and unified performance
i
INTERPRETATION I Vocal responses: i 1. Quality and characterization 2. Volume and projection ' 3. Tempo and pacing 4. Intensity and force j 5. Intelligibility and enunciation 6. Pitch and inflection 7. Phrasing and pauses : 8. Sustaining • 9. Spontaneity and naturalness
10. Motivation and meaning 11. Mispronounced and misarticulated words 12. Comments
Physical responses: i 1. Naturalness and spontaneity j 2. Motivated and meaningful 3. Degree of suggestion 4. Focus 5. Use of manuscript 6. General comments
GENERAL TECHNIQUES 1. Maintained a sense of listening and responsiveness 2. Projected emotions with restraint 3. Picked up cues properly 4. Did not distract attention from focal point of attention 5. Was emotionally and intellectually alive to performance
Critic
CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The stated objective for this thesis was to describe specific
objectives, procedures, and forms of a group interpretation per-
formance in the speech arts curriculum. To accomplish this purpose,
this thesis has examined three modes of group interpretation as single
styles of production and as a collective art form. There has been an
effort to examine group interpretation from three aspects , historical,
philosophical, and as an educational procedure.
Viewed from a historical perspective, group interpretation is not
an innovated production technique, but rather it represents a refinement
and reassessment of existing techniques. Apparently there were forms
of group play reading in existence during the Eighteenth Century. Some
forms of group recitation were practiced as a part of elocution c lasses .
Many techniques now evident in Readers Theatre productions were a part
of the productions of the Elizabethan Reading Society (1875). Staged
play readings were employed on several college campuses during the
1930's and 1940's. Certainly many of the early techniques of group
interpretation are borrowed directly from the classical Greek dramatic ;
chorus. Since there were no formal efforts or major articles directly
relating to group interpretation until 1920 to 1925, it can be asserted
123
124
that group interpretation productions are a product of twentieth
century educational procedures. As versespeaking or choric
reading, group interpretation did not fulfill its expectations, and
during the 1940's it fell into general disrepute. Perhaps the most
important events in the development of group interpretation as an art
form were the Paul Gregory-Charles Laughton productions of Don Tuan
in Hell and Tohn Brown's Body. These two productions created a
popular revival of group interpretative procedures. This renaissance
of group reading stimulated many interpretative experiments in high
school speech courses and in many college speech departments. Also
there has been a surge of writing discussing group interpretation as
Readers Theatre in professional journals and speech textbooks.
A study of the theoretical and philosophical aspects of group inter-
pretation reveal that it i s a polyphyletic art form. It combines some of i
the techniques and procedures of conventional theatre with the objectives,
forms, and repertory of interpretation. As Leslie Irene Coger and
Melvin White state, " . . . theatre and interpretative reading have a 1
common background. In Readers Theatre they come together again."
As directors of group interpretation experiment with interpretative
methods, they assigned a variety of titles to the forms. This practice
emphasizes the diverse nature of group interpretation but these concepts
lLeslie Irene Coger and Melvin White, Readers Theatre Handbook (Glenview, Illinois, 1967), p. 11.
125
just cannot account for the vast inventiveness of authors. Most
authorities recognize the influence of Bertholt Brecht's Epic Theatre
concepts on the theoretical aspects of a group interpretation per-
formance. The episodal nature of scripts, extensive use of a
narrator-reader, and various estrangement effects represent a sampling
of the more characteristic elements of Epic Theatre observed in a group
production. As Epic Theatre attempts to aesthetically detach the
spectators from the literature, group interpretation attempts to
objectively project the literature offstage into the realm of the spectators.
The readers and the auduence share in the literary experience.
Each of the three group modes has its particular purpose and
characteristics. Choric Interpretation represents the traditional style
of group interpretation. This mode attempts to present verse literature
to an audience through ensemble vocal arrangements. In this form the
literature is arranged for solo and combined vocal presentations. Read-
ers are usually arranged statically, and the style employs general
synchronized vocal and physical interpretations.
Readers Theatre is the more popular form of group interpretation.
Accordingly, this terminology will probably come to include all group
interpretative performances. Readers Theatre proposes to present
literature with or without a narrator, and with or without delineated
characters, to an audience. In this style, a group employs stools,
lecterns, and manuscripts to heighten the reading atmosphere of the
126
performance.
Of the three s tyles , Chamber Theatre moves closest to con-
ventional theatre. General consensus acknowledges Robert Breen
as the creator of this art form. Chamber Theatre proposes to present
a short story or novel to an audience with the immediacy of a
theatrical presentation. This style retains the author's point of
view of the selection which i s controlled by the selective use of a
narrator-reader. Chamber Theatre heightens the literature a s the
interpreters read in character, indirect discourse is presented as
direct discourse, and at times readers focus action on stage and at
other times interpreters read directly to the audience .
As an educational procedure, a group interpretation performance
offers a teacher of interpretation various advantages. First, a group
performance can be adapted to an existing speech arts curriculum. It
can be used as an enrichment device for the speech talented students,
while performing as an indirect approach to remedial speech ski l l s . A
group interpretation contains a motivational value that i s not offered by
solo classroom interpretation performances. The psychological pressure
of performing before an audience causes students to take more care in
understanding an author's literary experience and to develop better pre-
sentation techniques. Acting as a valuable training instrument for the
speech ar t s , group interpretation also sat isf ies certain life needs of the
interpreters. It develops communal loyalty, while developing in the
127
students an ability to give and take criticisms. They find their ideas
and opinions challenged by others and, thus the students are able to
evaluate their own personal values.
The educational methods involved in a group performance
attempt to retain the interpretative procedures, impression and expres-
sion, in a single process. Students develop the techniques of
impression as they learn the techniques of expression. A teacher-
director guides the learning experience through an indirect approach.
Students discover, not only an author's meaning, but also ways that
this meaning can be presented to an audience in an interesting and
entertaining manner.
The first step in this educational process is to select the
literature for a group performance. This step is primarily a teacher
oriented activity. Literature used in a group production should be
selected on the basis of the interpreters' maturity and interpretative
skills, the aesthetic taste and maturity of the audience, and the
occasion for the performance. Foremost in this step is the literature
i tself . A selection must benefit by the group treatment. Techniques
must serve the literature being interpreted.
The second step in the learning process is rehearsing and pre-
paring the material for a performance. This step is organized into three
phases suggested by C. C. Cunningham. The first phase requires stu-
dents to study the literature as a total effect. During the second phase
128
the parts of the complete selection are examined so students may have
a more complete understanding of the selection in its entirety. During
this phase a group experiments with presentational techniques that will
best convey the author's meaning. In the third phase, the interpreters
polish and perfect the performance for presentation.
In an educational atmosphere there must be some method for
measuring program effectiveness and student achievement. Since no
measuring devices have been established for group interpretative per-
formances, this thesis attempted to form suggested criteria and
evaluation forms. Each teacher-director will need to adapt these forms
to specific situations. Three general areas for evaluation are con-
sidered. The first area is the material used. Is it appropriate to the
interpreters, audience, and occasion, and does the production enhance
the literature? The second phase evaluates the vocal and physical
interpretation. Are the vocal and physical responses natural and
spontaneous? The third phase is the general effectiveness of the
production. Did the performance accomplish its projected purpose?
In conclusion, this investigation has suggested three general
observations concerning group interpretation. First, variation and
experimentation will continue to characterize group activities. Cer-
tainly, part of the popularity evident with group interpretation is centered
in the freedom the medium permits a teacher of interpretation. Second,
Readers Theatre nomenclature will probably become the accepted
129
terminology applied to any group performance without consideration
to form, style, or approach. Third, additional research is needed
in two areas discussed in this thesis, (l) The effectiveness of
group interpretation productions as an educational medium needs to be
evaluated by specific objective rating scales . This research would
give credence, or discredit, to the subjective claims made concerning
the inherent values of group interpretation as an art form. (2) There
needs to be a thorough examination of the Epic Theatre principles as
they apply to group interpretation performances.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Aristotle, Poetics, translated by Preston Epps, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press, 1942.
Armstrong, Chloe, and Paul D. Brandes, The Oral Interpretation of Literature. New York, McGraw Hill, Co . , 1963.
Bacon, Wallace, and Robert Breen, Literature as Experience, New York, McGraw Hill, C o . , 1959.
Bacon, Wallace, The Art of Interpretation. New York, Rinehart and Winston, I nc . , 1966.
Boardman, Gail, Oral Communication of Literature. New York, Prentice Hall, I nc . , 1952.
Brooks, Keith, Eugene Bahn, and L. LaMont Okey, The Communicative Act of Oral Interpretation, Boston, Allyn and Bacon, I n c . , 1967.
Cobin, Martin T . , Theory and Techniques of Interpretation, Englewood Cli f fs , New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1959.
Coger, Leslie Irene, and Melvin R. White, Readers Theatre Handbook, Glenview, Illinois, Scott Foresman and C o . , 1967.
Cole, Toby, and Helen Krich Chinoy, Actors on Acting. New York, Crown Publishing C o . , 1949.
Crocker, Lionel, Interpretative Speech, New York, Prentice Hall C o . , 1952.
Cunningham, Cornelius C . , Making Words Come Alive. New York, T. Nelson and Son, 1941.
Dolman, John, J r . , The Art of Reading Aloud, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1956.
130
131
DeWitt, Marguerite, Dramaticules for Choric Recitation with Group Movement, Boston, Expression C o . , 1936.
, editor, Practical Methods in Choral Speaking. Boston, Expression Co.
Evans, Helen Kitchell, Together We Speak, Dansville, New York, F. A. Owen, Publishers, 1959.
Fogerty, Elsie, The Speaking of English Verse. New York, E. P. Dutton and Son, 1923.
Gassner, John, Directions in Modern Theatre and Drama, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, I nc . , 1966.
Gassner, John, and Ralph G. Allen, Theatre and Drama in the Making, Boston, Houghton Mifflin C o . , 1964.
Geiger, Don, Oral Interpretation and Literary Study, San Francisco, P. Van Volten, 1958.
, The Sound, Sense, and Performance of Literature. Glenview, Illinois, Scott Foresman and C o . , 1963.
Grimes, Wilma, and Aletha Smith Mattingly, Interpretation: Writer. Reader. Audience. San Francisco, Wadsworth Publishing C o . , 1961.
Gullan, Marjorie, Choral Speaking, seventh edition, London, MethuanCo. , 1962.
, Spoken Poetry in Schools. London, MethuanCo . , 1935,
, The Speech Choir. New York, Harper Brothers, 1937 . '
Ha mm, Agnes, Choral Speaking Technigues. Milwaukee, Tower Press, 1951.
Hemphill, Edith Irene, Choral Speaking and Speech Improvement. Darien, Connecticut, Educational Teachers' Publishing C o . , 1960.
Irwin, John, and Marjorie Rosenberger, Modern Speech. New York, Rinehart and Winston, I n c . , 1966.
132
Johnson, Gertrude, Modern Literature for Oral Instruction, New York, The Century Co. , 1940.
' , editor, Studies in.the Art of Interpretation, New York, Appleton-Century Co. , 1940.
Lee, Charlotte, Oral Interpretation, third edition, Boston, Houghton Miffldn Co. , 1965.
Lowery, Sara, Interpretative Reading: Techniques and Selections, New York, Appleton-Century Co. , 1952.
Lynch, Gladys Emily, and Harold C. Crain, Projects in Oral Interpretation. New Yori, Henry Holt and Co. , 1959.
Newton, Muriel, The Unit Plan for Choral Reading. Boston, Expression Co. , 1938.
Nichols, Wallace Bertram, The Speaking of Poetry. Boston, Expression Co . , 1937.
Masefield, John, The Oxford Recitations, New York, The MacMillan Co. , 1928.
Matthews, John I . , Shaw's Dramatic Criticism 1895-98, New York, Hill and Wang, 1959.
Robinson, Karl, and Charlotte Lee, Speech in Action. Glenview, Illinois, Scott Foresman and Co. , 1965.
Seely, Howard Francis, and William Hackett, Experiences in Speaking. Glenview, Illinois, Scott Foresman and Co . , 1940.
Simley, Anne, Oral Interpretation Handbook. Minneapolis, Burgess Publishing Co. , 1960.
Smith, Joseph Fielding, and James R. Linn, Skill in Reading Aloud, New York, Harper Brothers, 1960.
Speight, Robert, William Poel and the Elizabethan Revival, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1954.
133
Swarm, Mona, An Approach to Choral Speech. Boston, Bakers' Plays, 1937.
Thompson, David W . , Oral Interpretation of Fiction, Minneapolis, Burgess Publishing C o . , 1964.
Vielleux, Jere, The Re-Creation of Literature, New York, Harper and Row, 1967.
Willett, John, Brecht on Theatre. New York, Hill and Wang, 1964.
, The Theatre of Bertholt Brecht. New York, New Directions, 1959.
Wilson, Edwin, editor, Shaw on Shakespeare. New York, E. P. Dutton and C o . , I nc . , 1961.
Woolbert, Charles H . , and Severina Nelson, The Art of Interpretative Speech. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1956.
Articles
Armstrong, Mary Haldamen, "Certain Aspects of Choral Speech," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXIV (February, 1938), 117-119.
Babcock, Mary Maud, "Impersonation Versus Interpretation," Quarterly Tournal of Public Speaking. II (October, 1916), 340-343.
, "Interpretative Presentation Versus Impersonative Presentation," Quarterly Tournal of Public Speaking. II (April, 1916), 18-25.
"Teaching Interpretation," Quarterly Tournal of Public Speaking. I (July, 1915), 173-176.
Bacon, Wallace A. , "Scholarship and. the Interpreter," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXIV (April, 1953), 187-192.
Bahn, Eugene, "Interpretative Reading in Ancient Greece," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XVIII (June, 1932), 423-440.
134
., "Interpretative Reading in Ancient Rome," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXIII (April, 1937), 202-213.
Baker, Virgel, "Reading in Action," Players Magazine. XXXV (February, 1959), 102-103.
Booth, Mariam, "Interpretative Reading in the High School," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXII (April, 1936), 270-277.
Borchers, Gladys, "An Approach to the Problem of Oral Style," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXII (February, 1936), 114-117.
Boston, Barbara, "Chamber Theatre—A New Approach to Literature," English Highlights. IXX (November-December, 1961), 2-15.
Boyd, Lorenz, "Chamber Drama: Versatile Language Arts Tool," Scholastic Teacher. LXXVII (November, 1960), 14-15.
Bradford, Arthur, "When Oral Interpretation Comes of Age," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXIV (October, 1938), 444-452.
Brooks, Keith, "Readers' Theatre: Some Questions and Answers," Dramatics, XXXIV (December, 1962), 14-27.
Brooks, Keith, Robert C. Henderhan, and Alan Billings, "A Philosophy on Readers Theatre," Speech Teacher. XII (September, 1963), 229-232.
Brown, John Mason, "Marching On: Laughton's Presentation of Tohn Brown's Body." Saturday Review. XXXVI (March 14, 1953), 34-36.
. "What—Shaw Again: Reading of Don Tuan in He'll." Saturday Review. XXIV (November 10, 1951), 22-26.
Coger, Leslie Irene, "Theatre for Oral Readers," Speech Teacher. XII (November, 1963), 322-330.
, "Interpreter's Theatre: Theatre of the Mind," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XLIX (April, 1963), 157-164.
Committee for the Advancement of Speech in Secondary Schools, "A Course of Study in Speech for Secondary Schools," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXII (February, 1936), 255-261.
135
Crawford, Mary Major, "Speech Choirs in Europe," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXIII (October, 1937), 444-449.
Crocker, Lionel, "How to Multiply the Side Values of Oral Reading," Speech Teacher, X (January, 1961), 63-64.
Frederil, W. Hile, and Sholie R. Brown, "The 49ers and Three Experiments in Oral Interpretation," Speech Teacher, II (March, 1953), 105-108.
Galbraith, Esther, "A Note on Three Choral Readings," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXII (December, 1936), 648-651.
Geiger, Don, "Dramatic Approach to Interpretative Analysis," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXXVTII (April, 1952), 189-194.
, "Oral Interpretation and 'New Cri t icism' ," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXXVI (December, 1950), 508-513.
, "Oral Interpretation in the Liberal Arts Context," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XI (April, 1954), 137-144.
, "Pluralism in the Interpreter's Search for Sanctions," Quarterly Tournal of Speech, XLVI (February, 1955), 43-56.
., "The Oral Interpreter as Creator," Speech Teacher. Ill (November, 1954), 269-277.
Gray, Gi les Wilkeson, "What was Elocution," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XLVI (February, 1960), 1-7C
Hamm, Agnes Curren, "Choral Speaking: A Word of Warning," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXV (April, 1939), 225-227.
Houseman, John, "Drama Quartette," Theatre Arts. XXXV (August, 1951), 14-15, 96-97.
Johnson, Gertrude, "Education through Reading and Declamation," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. VI (February, 1920), 48-54.
Kaulhausen, Marie-Head, "Philogical and Speech Methods," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXXIX (October, 1953), 340-346.
136
Kosh, Zelda Homer, "The Speech Education Program in the Arlington Public Schools," Speech Teacher, I (January, 1952), 55-62.
Krempel, Daniel, "Imaginary Forces—A Minority Report," Quarterly Tournal of Speech, XLIX (December, 1963), 343-388.
Krutch, Joseph Wood, "On Reading Plays," Theatre Arts, XLI (November, 1957), 33-34, 94-95.
Lee, Charlotte, "Choric Reading and Kinetic Projection," Tournal of Speech. XXVI (December, 1940), 545-550.
Long, Chester C . , "The Poem's Text as a Technique of Performance in Public Readings," Western Speech, XXXI (Winter, 1967), 16-29.
Marlor, Clark S . , " R e a d e r ' s Theatre Bibliography, 1960-64," Central States Speech Tournal. XVII (February, 1966), 33-39.
Marsh, Gerald, "An Interpretative Approach to Speech," Quarterly Tournal of Speech, XL (October, 1954), 269-271.
Marshman, John T. , "The Art Approach to Reading Aloud," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXXVII (February, 1951), 35-40.
Meader, Emma Grant, "Choral Speaking and Its Values," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXII (April, 1936), 244-246.
Monroe, E. Annette, "The Group Reading: Expression for Drama of Mental Action," Central States Speech Tournal, XV (August, 1964), 170-176.
Morehead, Agnes, "Staging Don Juan in Hell," Western Speech, XVIII (May, 1954), 163-166.
Pelegrini, Angelino, "Aims and Educational Content of Oral Reading," Quarterly Tournal of Speech, XXII (December, 1937), 643-647.
Rasmussen, Carrie, "Verse Speaking and Bodily Activity," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XX (April, 1934), 282-286.
137
Reclam, Herta, "Choric Speaking in Greek Tragedies Performed by Students," Speech Teacher. XI (November, 1962), 283-289.
Robb, Margaret, "Looking Backward," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXVIII (October, 1942), 323-327.
Robbins, R. H . , "A Further Justification of Choral Speaking," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXIV (October, 1938), 437-442.
, "Choral Speaking at the Oxford Fest ivals ," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXV (April, 1939), 227-235.
Robertson, Roderick, "Interpreter's Theatre," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XLIX (October, 1963), 321-322.
Scheef, Aimee, "Aldephi's Readers Theatre," Theatre Arts. XXXVII (June, 1953), 79-80.
Seedorf, Evelyn H . , "The Phonetic Approach to Choral Speaking," Speech Teacher. VI (March, 1957), 117-122.
Smith, Heber Leigh, "Objective Meaning and Dramatic Inter-pretation," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XXXVI (February, 1950), 39-43.
Struman, Kay Arthur, "Stage Readings of Plays, " Players Magazine. XVIII (October, 1941), 18-19.
Talcott, R. A. , "Speech Training Through Acting, Reading, and Declamation," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. XI (February, 1925), 8-17.
., "Teaching Public Reading," Quarterly Tournal of Speech. IX (February, 1923),
., "The Place of Personation," Quarterly Tournal of Public Speaking. II (April, 1916), 116-122.
Veilleux, Jere, "The Interpreter: Role, Language, and Audience," Speech Teacher. XVI (March, 1967), 53-66.
White, Melv inR. , "Today's Scene and Readers Theatre." Todays Speech. XV (February, 1967), 22-23.
138
Williams, Helen Davault, "You Might Like the Verse Speaking Choir," Quarterly Tournal of Speech, XXVII (February, 1942), 41-45.
Witt, Daniel, "Audience Response to Acting, Readers Theatre, and Silent Reading for Realistic and Anti-Realistic Drama," Western Speech, XXX (Spring, 1966), 123-129,
Unpublished Materials
Breen, Robert, "Chamber Theatre." Suggestions for a Course of Studies in the Theatre Arts at the Secondary School Level, American Educational Theatre Association, (n. p . , 1963), pp. 50-52.
Coger, Leslie Irene, personal letter, January 15, 1968.
Cole, Ailene, "The Theory and Practice of Choral Reading," •unpublished master 's thes i s , University of Minnesota, 1950.
Finch, Lillian Lockhart, "AJSubjective Evaluation of Choral Reading as a Method of Instruction," unpublished master 's thes i s , Mississippi Southern College, 1958.
Irwin, Ray, "Some Trends in Interpretation in the Past Fifty Years," Re-Establishing the Speech Profession, edited by Robert T. Odwin and Marvien Bauer for The Speech Association of the Eastern States , (n. p . , 1959), pp. 76-81.
Masefield, John, "With the Living Voice," an address given at the first general meeting of The Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse, October 24, 1924.
Nielsen, Margaret, "Readers Theatre," Suggestions for a Course Of Study in Theatre Arts at the Secondary School Level. American Educational Theatre Association, (n. p . , 1963), pp. 46-49.
Simpson, Doris Burkertt, unpublished notes, Northwestern University, Evanston, Il l inois, 1960-1963.